It's Not What You Think
by lil-rock14
Summary: Ever wondered what Rome meant when he said, “It means, you always gettin’ in trouble over a female, Brian.” There are a million reasons why Brian became a cop. But there was none more influential that this one. A look into Brian’s past.
1. Chapter 1

**It's Not What You Think**

Summary: Ever wondered what Rome meant when he said, "It means, you always gettin' in trouble over a female, Brian." There are a million reasons why Brian became a cop. But there was none more influential that this one. A look into Brian's past. Characters from TFATF and 2F2F. This is not an Original Character Romance!

**Disclaimer: I own no real characters so far. I guess that I own names. So if you haven't heard of them in any of the two movies, they belong to me. Everyone else belongs to the people who came up with the characters for this movie.**

_**Bold is thoughts**_

_Italic is flashback_

Brian laid in his bed staring at the ceiling. His hands behind his head, his shirt off, and his eyes as wide as they could get. Time was boundless every time he did that. Ever since he was a kid he would stare at the ceiling until the sun came up. He thought about anything and everything without anything disrupting his train of thought.

Tonight was one of those nights where he knew that he wasn't going to get any sleep at all. He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He combed his fingers through his wavy, blonde hair and stood up.

It had been nearly a year since the heist fallout, but Brian thought about it every day. Jesse miraculously survived all of the gunshot wounds, Vince was able to keep his arm, and the rest of the Team fled, probably to Mexico. He stuck around Los Angeles long enough to see Jesse and Vince get better. As soon as he saw they were on their way to meeting up with the Team, Brian made his way out of LA. He drove, and somehow he ended up in Miami.

The cops wanted to know where the Team was, and Brian refused to tell them. He quit the police force and ran because he wouldn't betray Dom and his Family twice in a lifetime. Down in Miami he began working for a man named, Tej. Tej was the man to know down in Miami. He was the only person that could give Brian the satisfaction of working on cars. Tej had a lot of people around him, but none more important than his girl, Suki, and Miami's equivalent to LA's Jesse, Jimmy. Jimmy was the best mechanic in town. _**He isn't as good as Jesse**_ Brian thought.

He knew that it was wrong to compare the two, but he knew that it was true. But he also knew that if they two somehow had the chance to meet, they would be an unstoppable team. Not that Jesse wasn't already a part of an unstoppable team. And Brian knew that Jesse wouldn't leave that group for anything. And Brian couldn't blame him. The Team wouldn't let Jesse go either. They almost lost him once, and they wouldn't risk it again. Brian could guarantee it.

Brian grabbed a shirt on the ground and threw it on. He grabbed his keys off of his dresser and walked off the boat where he was staying. He needed to get into a car and just drive. He couldn't stare at the ceiling tonight. There was too much on his mind and driving was the only thing that would sort it out.

Brian got into his Mitsubishi Evo 7 that Customs had given him. He thought that he had gotten away from working on a force, but he was wrong. So wrong. A few months after he made his way down to Miami, Bilkins messed up his Skyline that he had worked on for hours. All to pull him back into another case where he would pose as a driver for a guy named Carter Verone. His incentive was that his record would be wiped clean.

Brian agreed to the case on only one condition, that he got to choose his partner. He chose an old friend that he grew up with. Roman Pearce. He case was close to being solved, but Rome had said something that had really gotten under his skin. It was during a conversation they were having about Monica Fuentes, an undercover agent who was working on the same case they were.

_Flashback_

"_What is that supposed to mean!" Brian asked him._

"_It means, that you always getting in trouble over a female, Brian!" Rome replied, as they walked out Verone's mansion._

_End Flashback_

That one line kept replaying itself in the back of his head ever since Rome had said it. Who else had he gotten in trouble over? Rome couldn't have known about Mia. It must be from their past. It had to have been. He tried to think about all of the females from his past. _**Elizabeth? Marty? Ka**_— his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.

"O'Conner," he said answering his phone.

"Brian, you okay?" said the person on the other line.

"Yeah, Rome. Just needed to get out for awhile. I needed to think about something."

"This ain't gonna affect tomorrow is it?"

Tomorrow they were going to get the money that they were being paid to track down. They were to work with two of Verone's men and get the drug money from somewhere and drop it off. Then Verone would run away. Well, at least that is what was supposed to happen if Brian and Rome didn't get involved. But they were going to get involved, so obviously the plan wasn't going to go according to plan. "No way, bro. No way," Brian said with a smile on his face.

"Brian, don't do anything stupid tomorrow," Rome said in an uneasy voice.

"What do you mean?"

"I know you, Brian. If anything happens, I don't want you to have to think that you have to play the hero, because one day, it will get you killed."

"Rome, I can't guarantee that I won't play the hero tomorrow, but I know that if I do, it won't get me killed. I'm a superhero, remember."

"Yeah, clown. We both coming out of this one, aight," Rome said.

"Yeah."

"Brian, don't bullshit me. If you are thinking about doing something tomorrow, you better tell me."

"I don't know, Rome. Hey look, I went driving to clear my head, and you aren't really helping. So I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. Call up Tej for me and make sure everything is all copasetic."

"Yeah, copasetic," Rome said and hung up the phone.

"God, Roman, you know just what to say to get into my head, don't you?" Brian said to himself before speeding off.

**Please review. This is my first fanfiction for the Fast and the Furious, and I hope it turned our all right. Please no flames. Thanks a lot. Lil-Rock**


	2. Chapter 2

**All right, so the story is going to fast forward now… This is going to take place after the end of 2 Fast 2 Furious. This takes place RIGHT AFTER the movie and then it will jump into my story. Well… not really jump as much as take a baby step into. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter. Actually I do… I still only own names. Which is pretty lame, so until I actually start owning real characters, I will say I own nothing.**

"Pockets ain't empty, cuz," Brian said.

Rome laughed at Brian's statement. "And we ain't hungry no more, either bruh," Rome replied, lifting up his shirt revealing stacks of bills.

They both laughed as they walked away from the crime scene with thousands of dollars stashed with them. Rome got into his car that he had switched into. Brian walked over to Rome's driver side and leaned in. "You sure you ain't hungry?"

"Do you see the amount of money we have on us?"

"So you don't want to stop off somewhere to eat?" Brian smiled.

"Smart ass," Rome replied.

"Nah, it's just I know you too damn well. Let's celebrate the fact that we both 'got out of this aight', as you said last night. How about my treat."

"Damn right, it's your treat. You did it again, Brian!"

"Did what?" Brian asked not really knowing the reason why he was getting yelled at. This time at least.

"You played the hero when you didn't need to."

"I needed to this time, Rome, or Fuentes would have died."

"Always over a female. Get in the Sedan you crazy ass white boy," Rome said. "I'll follow. This place that you're treating me to better be expensive. I am mad at you right now. And I get real hungry when I'm mad."

"Then you must always be mad at something because you're always 'real hungry'."

"Shut up."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. We gotta stop off at Tej's first. I wanna drop off your car and have Jimmy take a look at it."

"So we ain't taking the Sedan that they have for us."

"Of course we are. We need it to get my ride."

"Do you actually think that Customs is gonna let us keep those cars."

"They probably won't, but they need to after almost getting us killed. But we aren't using the Evo or the Spyder."

"Then what the hell are we gonna use to get around? I ain't riding in the Sedan."

"My Skyline. What else?"

"Skyline? Didn't that get shot up by Bilkins' people?"

"I got it fixed up by someone."

"I didn't see it at Tej's garage."

"Because it's not in there."

"Then who is fixing up your car?"

"The same person who got the Evo and Spyder for us. How are you gonna drive with one arm?"

"I guess they don't teach that in Brian O'Conner's school of driving. I guess you gotta wait and see."

Brian laughed then ran to the Sedan and revved the engine. Rome sped off and Brian followed close behind him. They sped down the highway, maneuvering through traffic resulting in a round of honks and possibly swearing. Brian picked up his cell and dialed Rome's number. "Hey, Rome, why don't we slow it down a little?"

"Why would we want to do a stupid thing like that? What the Sedan can't keep up?" Rome teased.

"We've had our records wiped clean for five minutes; we don't need a speeding ticket to ruin it."

"Whatever," Rome said and hung up the phone.

Brian watched as Rome's car slowed considerably. Brian did the same and slowed also. It was actually funny to see cars pass them and not being the one passing cars. Brian heard his phone ring and answered it without looking at the caller ID. He answered it thinking it was Rome telling him that he was going to speed up. "What's up?" he answered.

"Are you going to race tonight?" asked a female voice on the other line.

"Monica," Brian said surprised hearing her voice. "I don't know. Why are you asking?"

"I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner with me tonight."

"What's up?"

"I'm being sent back to DC tomorrow. They need me to work on another case. If you don't want to, let me know. But let me say this to you now, it was really good to work with you."

"You too," Brian replied. "And I will be there. I'll pick you up at eight."

He put down his phone after he heard Monica hang hers up. Brian and Rome got to Tej's garage a few minutes later and they were both greeted by Jimmy. Jimmy walked up to Brian and threw his arms around him. "Man, Bullet. The way you had Rome talking, I thought you were dead," Jimmy said after he separated himself from Brian.

"Come on, Jimmy. You know you can't get rid of me that easily."

Jimmy's attention went from Brian to Rome and his arm in a sling. "And what the heck happened to you?"

"I broke my arm because Brian here had to go Luke Duke on me."

Brian raised his hands and shook his head. "I told you to put on your seatbelt," Brian replied.

"I was too busy trying to think of a way to stop you from using the car to get to the boat."

"You mean you were too busy screaming like a girl."

"If my arm wasn't broken, I would punch you right now," Rome growled.

"You need to get in line," said a familiar voice walking into the garage.

Brian turned around and saw Tej walk in with Suki under his arm. "Tej. Suki," Brian said.

"Don't you Tej and Suki us!" Suki yelled.

"Aren't you happy that I got you off the hook? And hey, hopefully we get to keep the cars," Brian said.

"We thought you were dead. Rome, does he always drive you this crazy?" Suki yelled.

"I was raised with him. Think about stuff like this, but once, maybe even twice a week," Rome replied.

"From what I heard, it was all about a woman, too," Jimmy added.

"Everything about him is all about a woman," Rome said.

"Rome, shut the hell up," Brian whispered.

"Brian, what about you and your woman?" Tej said obviously not hearing what Brian had just said to Rome.

"My woman? Oh, Monica. She has to go back to DC."

"You don't seem too sad about it," Suki said.

"She wasn't really my girl. We were just partners in a case."

"Right, partners," Tej said.

Brian shook his head. He knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere in the conversation and no matter what he said, they three of them wouldn't believe him. "I gotta go," Brian said.

Brian turned and walked out of the garage. Rome, Tej, Suki, and Jimmy all looked at each other in confusion. Rome ran out after Brian. "Brian. Brian!" Rome yelled. Brian continued walking ignoring him. Rome didn't give up on trying to catch him. He was going to get Brian's attention no matter what. "Broc!" Rome yelled.

Brian froze in his place. His hands started to shake. It had been forever since anyone has called him that. Since before he went to Juvie. And only his closest friends knew about that nickname.

_Flashback_

"_Why do they call you, Broc?"_

"_They took the first two letters of my first and the first two letters of my last name and put them together. Brian O'Conner. They like the whole one syllable thing. I guess Brian is just too hard to say," he said to her._

_End Flashback_

Brian turned around. Roman stepped back. Brian looked angry, and when they were kids, every single time that Brian looked angry, it was at least fifty times worse than it looked. "She wasn't just any female, Rome," Brian said.

"What are you talking about, Brian?" he replied still backing away from Brian.

"I know you can't be talking about Mia because you never met her. It can't be about Fuentes, because it just happened. It isn't about Marty because I never got in trouble over her. And this isn't about Elizabeth because you promised me that you would never use that against me. Who _else_ is there?" Brian yelled.

"I still don't know what you're talking about, Brian."

"I don't always get in trouble over a female. Don't blame her for me going to Juvie."

"I don't. But you still got in trouble. And she is a female.

"But it was her. I promised her."

"I know. You would have done anything for her, and you did."

"It was my fault, Rome."

"You were sixteen. It was just some high school bull shit. What could you have done?"

"Something. Anything. I guess you're right. Just don't put her in a category with all of the other women in my life like that again."

"Brian, you know I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying when you get in the most trouble, there is usually a female involved."

"I know," Brian replied, calming down. A smile was creeping up on his face.

"She meant just as much to me as she did to you."

"She meant the most to me out of all of us," he said somberly. The smile disappeared. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Brian felt the need to break it. "Whatever, I don't want to talk about it. I have to get ready for a hot date."

"Fuentes?"

"She is going back to DC tomorrow. I am throwing her a going away party."

"And I wasn't invited."

"Sorry, bro. It's a private party."

"I thought she wasn't your girl."

"She's not. But like you said, you weren't invited." Brian turned around and walked toward the Sedan. He got into it and left Rome standing alone in front of Tej's garage. Jimmy, Suki, and Tej walked over to Rome and Brian waved goodbye to them. He started the Sedan and drove off. "Time to get my Skyline."

**Okay, thanks to all those who reviewed. That was chapter two of my story. I hope that it was good for you guys. Please review this chapter. Thanks again. Lil-Rock**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I finally own a real character! Too bad he isn't really an essential part to where the story is going. But hey, at least I own someone. The rest belongs to the Fast and Furious movie people.**

Brian sat inside of the Sedan and stared at the warehouse. It was the same warehouse where he and Rome had gotten the Spyder and Evo, and it is where his Skyline was. Well, at least that was the impression he was under. He got out of the car and banged on the metal door. "Eh, yo, Shane!" Brian yelled.

The door rolled up and there was a man a few years younger than him standing on the other side. His brown hair was spread out in every different direction. He was dressed in a blue jumpsuit covered in grease. His name tag could barely be seen through all of the mess. Shane took off his goggles and Brian was met with a set of green eyes. "What up, Brian?" Shane asked. Shane grabbed Brian's arm and pulled him into the warehouse. He quickly shut the door behind him. "How did you find me?"

Brian laughed at Shane's semi-paranoid nature. "You're not a hard person to find."

"Oh. Here for your Skyline?"

"Yeah, if you're done with it. How was… is it?"

Shane signaled for Brian to follow him. They walked to a corner in the warehouse. Sitting in front of them was a covered car. Shane walked around the Skyline checking out everything. Brian stood in the back and watched the mechanic work. "Well, when it got shot by the scrambler, it fried nearly everything in your system. So, I took out everything, replaced and rewired the whole system." Shane gestured for Brian to walk with him to the hood. Brian popped the hood and looked under it. "Now with your engine," Shane began, "I kept it the same, but new. The same exact gear, the same exact place, just new. And I replaced your door, I just didn't paint it."

Shane closed the hood. "Shane. You're a god," Brian said, with a smile plastered on his face.

"Thanks, I get that a lot." Shane walked off to go and find Brian's keys. He got the keys and passed them off to Brian. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I scratched some of your graphics off when I was working on it."

"Don't worry about it. I have a picture that I want on it now."

"Your girl Suki drew it up?"

"No."

Shane shot Brian a perplexed look. "Well, word around this place is that you two get to keep the Evo and Spyder."

"Where did you hear that?"

"Through the grapevine."

"I haven't heard anything about that."

"How are those cars anyway?"

"They're good cars. But if we do get to keep them, can you…"

"Take out the tracking system I put in? Of course. Give me a week."

"For each car?"

Shane laughed at the statement. "No. Just a week. I put it in, I can take it out."

"So how much is this gonna cost me?"

Shane started counting with his fingers. He put his hands down and looked up at Brian. "Fourteen."

"Hundred?"

"No, dollars. I wanna go to Subway after work. I don't know if I wasn't the teriyaki chicken or the seafood sandwich. I think fourteen is enough for both. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. I don't know if I want a soda and some chips yet."

"You're kidding."

"I like me some Subway."

"Shane, let me pay you more for the cars."

"I can't let you do that, Brian. You are a racing god here. And besides, it was my job."

"If it was your job, then I need to pay you."

"No. I was dragged into this. Look, we aren't that different."

"How so?"

"I got in trouble for boosting cars."

"You got in trouble for boosting?"

"Yeah. And I read in your file that you got in trouble for it too. The only difference is that while you got Juvie, I got a job. See, my dad was a well-known Customs agent. When he retired, I went though my rebellious stage in life. So I got caught and my dad made a deal with some guys. So instead of going to jail and all that good stuff; I got a job. Working here. At Customs."

"Yeah, it's funny how that works out."

"We both got different reasons for boosting cars, but we both ended up working for Customs. It's weird. But for some reason, I'm okay with it now. I mean, after being here so long."

"This kind of stuff can do that to you."

"But I get to work with cars. And that's my passion."

"You know, if I had my own garage, I would need to give you a job."

"But you don't have a garage. But I gotta say that it's an honor to hear that from you."

"So yeah, bro. Thanks for fixing the car, but I gotta get out of here. I promised to treat Rome to some food after almost getting us killed."

"Do I even want to hear how you almost died?"

Brian smiled. "Nah, man, that's another day." Brian reached into his pocket and took out five hundred dollars and placed it in Shane's hand. "This is so you can go to Subway, and will pay you more later."

"Brian, I told you—"

"Sorry, Shane. I can't hear you. My system is too loud," he interrupted before he could give the money back. "Or at least it will be."

Brian jumped into the Skyline and started the engine. He blasted his system and smiled as he felt the air being pushed around him by his bass. He saluted Shane. Shane ran to the door and opened it and Brian drove out of the warehouse.

Brian flew down the street in his Skyline. He switched gears and silently thanked Shane once more. _**Smooth as ever,**_ he thought. He drove in the direction of Tej's garage. _**Tej is gonna be pissed.**_ But he smirked at the thought.

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

Back at the garage, Rome paced back and forth mumbling things that needed to stay mumbled and not be said out loud. Suki, Jimmy, and Tej stared at him with wide eyes. "Yo, Rome," Tej started. "Are you okay?"

"I can't believe he left me here!" Rome roared, but continued to pace.

"I guess not," Suki whispered.

"Where did Bullet go anyway?" Jimmy asked.

"He went to pick up his car. And I'm still hungry! Car. Food. Car. Food! Is he blind? All because of a girl."

"What car?" Tej asked.

Rome opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by the sound of an engine revving outside. They all turned to face the front of the garage, but there was no car in sight. "That sounds like Bullet's Skyline," Suki said.

Just as she said that, Brian came into view. The four people in the garage ran out to greet him. Jimmy covered his mouth as the car pulled up next to him. Jimmy walked around the car and scanned it. Brian got out of the car with a big smile on his face. Tej stood in front of him to stop him from walking anywhere. "Two things, Bullet."

"Yeah, what up?" Brian replied.

"One. Who the hell fixed your car and where can I find him so I can hire him? And—"

"That's already two things," Brian interrupted.

"Shut up. Fine, three things."

"He works at Customs."

"And three. Why the hell wasn't this car brought in to be fixed here?"

"I had no control over that. Customs took it, and Shane took the responsibility of fixing it himself." Brian walked over to Rome who was standing behind the three with his arms folded across his chest. "Hungry?" Brian asked him.

"I lost my appetite."

"Bull shit," Brian laughed. "How about tomorrow I treat you to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and anything in between." He turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, can you check out the car and make sure everything is to your approval?"

"My pleasure," Jimmy said and walked outside toward the Skyline.

The rest of the group walked inside and waited for him to finish.

After about twenty minutes, Jimmy walked in and halted the converstation that was going on without him. "So what's the prognosis, Doc?" Brian asked standing up.

Rome, Tej, and Suki also stood up. "Man, Bullet. I don't' know who fixed up your car, but the work he did in the amount of time he had is amazing. Honestly, this guy would put me out of a job."

"Don't say that, Jimmy," Brian said.

"No, I'm serious."

_**He still hasn't met Jesse,**_ Brian thought.

"So, is it ready to be back on the streets?" Tej asked, pulling Brian out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. If you wanted him to race tonight, you could. But I know he has a hot date tonight."

"Hot date? Monica!" he remembered.

"Go," Tej said.

Brian shot Tej a smile and ran toward his car. He jumped in and drove off. He got to his boat a few minutes later. He walked inside and took off his shirt. In the waist line, there were three stacks of money sticking out. He took them out and threw them onto his bed. He emptied out his pockets and two more stacks joined the other ones. He lifted up his pant legs and pulled out two more stacks from each leg. _**Do you think they will notice all of this is missing?**_ he thought. _**Nah.**_

He went to his bathroom and took a shower. He came out with a towel around his waist and walked over to his drawers. He grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans. Basically the same thing he was wearing before he took a shower, just clean. After he had dressed, he put the money way, jumped onto his bed and laid down.

He threw his arm over his eyes and slowly began to relax. It was the first time he could relax in who knows how many days. He felt the weight of his bed shift and he jerked awake. He blindly reached for the gun he had in his drawer, but was stopped by another hand. He looked up and saw her. "Monica? Did I fall asleep? It is passed eight already?"

"No. I just needed to see you."

"You know, the last time we were like this, you told me someone was going to kill me."

Monica laughed. "It isn't the same situation. I promise."

"So why are you here so early?" he asked looking at his watch.

"Let's go for a drive. I saw your Skyline."

Brian swung his legs over his bed and stood up. He held his hand out to Monica. "Let's go."

She took his hand and they walked off the boat.

**Thanks to all those who reviewed the previous chapters. I am so sorry that this too so long for me to update. But I had a case of writer's block. I had a beginning to his chapter and an end, but I didn't know how the beginning got to the end. Also I hope it is all right that I made him take so much money. My bad. I hope this chapter turned out all right and isn't too lame. Please review. Thanks a bunch. Lil-Rock**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I got nothing. Not in this chapter at least.**

Brian sat in the car with Monica to his left. They zoomed down the streets of Miami. He kept taking glances at Monica. When she caught him, all she did was send him a soft smile. "So," Monica started. "Where are we going?"

"I don't really know. I was thinking that we could just drive around until we find somewhere."

"Fine with me. Just as long as I get to see you race."

Brian slowed his car considerably. "Race?"

"Did I stutter, playboy? I said race, and I meant race. Unless there isn't a race tonight."

"There is. But why do you want to see me race?"

"The first time I met you, you had just won a race."

Brian thought back to the first time he had seen her. "I remember that."

"I want to see you race one last time before I leave."

"But I don't have much money with me to put down."

"Right," she said.

"Right? What is that supposed to mean?" Brian said. **_Does she know?_**

"Nothing," Monica replied. They sat in silence for a few minutes. "How about we go and get something to eat?"

Brian nodded and agreed with what she said. He switched gears and drove off to a restaurant where he thought they would both enjoy themselves.

A waitress seated them at a table, handed them both a menu, and took their drink orders. The waitress came back and brought back their drink. The waitress walked away after they ordered their food. Monica took a sip of her drink and put it down. She took her straw and stirred her drink with it. Brian also took a sip of his soda.

Unable to take the silence, Monica decided to start a conversation. "So who is the special woman in your life?"

Brian spit his soda back into his cup. He took a rag and wiped his mouth, then he sat up, shocked by the question. "What kind of question is that?"

"One that you obviously don't have an answer to."

"I do. I mean, I have an answer. I don't have one. Special woman. I don't have one," he said with much difficulty.

"You have one," she said. "There is a look in your eye. A look that says you care for someone a lot. And the way you act. Was it someone in LA?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe? Is there more than one special woman in your life?"

"Of course. Just not the way that you think," Brian said hoping to stop the conversation.

Monica put her hand on Brian's. Brian looked down as she did that. "I know you didn't love me, Brian. You cared about me. But you had to."

"Yeah, I did care for you. And I didn't have to, but I did."

"And me too. I can't thank you enough for saving my life."

"Once is enough."

"You act like you get thanks for doing this a lot."

"I guess. It depends on who you ask," he said leaning back on his chair. "Someone in my life considers me a superhero."

"Don't tell me that it makes you big headed."

"No. Never," he said flashing her a smile. "But if it makes you feel better, I should be thanking you."

"What for?"

"You saved my life too."

"I put you in more danger."

"Saved my life. Put me in danger. In day of a superhero, it's all the same."

Monica laughed at Brian calling himself a superhero for the second time in a few minutes. The conversation stopped when the waitress came back with their food. Monica had her salad and shrimp, and Brian had his steak.

The two of them didn't say much throughout the entire meal, but they kept their eyes on each other. They had some small talk here and there, but at most times it seemed as if they were more concerned about their meals. And for some reason, neither of them cared.

Brian finished his steak first and waited for Monica to finish her shrimp. She looked at him when she was done. She took his hand and looked deep into his eyes. "So what do you want to do now?" Brian asked.

"I told you. I want to see you race," Monica replied.

"I didn't think you were serious. Why can't we just go dancing?"

"Do you get an adrenaline rush when you dance?"

"No."

"This is Miami, playboy. Show me a good time."

"Dancing is a good time. And I told you, I don't have any money."

"Come on, Brian. Like you aren't going to reach into your wallet right now and pull out a hundred dollar bill," she taunted.

Brian took his wallet out of pocket and fanned through his bills. He had a few hundred dollar bills from what he had taken and what he had won at the races. He also saw that he had a fifty dollar bill and grinned. He took it out and used it to pay the check. "Sorry to disappoint you. I guess I'm not as rich as you want to believe."

"Fine. If you are so broke, I will pay for your race," Monica said.

"No, I can't let you do that. I will get the money. I'll grant you your last wish."

"I'm not dying, Brian."

"But you are leaving." He opened his wallet and took out a twenty. "Can you do me a favor and pay for the check? I'm gonna go outside and see if I can get a spot tonight."

"Of course."

Brian stood up and walked out of the restaurant. He stood right outside the entrance. He took out his cell phone and dialed Tej's number. "Hey, Tej," he said when Tej answered.

"What up, Bullet?"

"Got room for me tonight?"

"Did the date go sour?"

Brian laughed at what Tej said. "No. Still on it, but she wants to see a race."

"You in the line-up?" Tej said, disbelieving.

"Only if you have room for me."

"I always have room for a profit."

"What's the buy in?"

"If you want in the last race? Thirty five hundred."

"Raise it a nickel to make it an even four."

"You got it. Be here in ten. I gotta break the news to my other racers."

Brian hung up his cell phone just as Monica walked out of the restaurant. She had the twenty in her hand. "This was unnecessary," Monica said putting it in his hand. "So did you get a spot?"

"Of course. We have ten minutes."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Well, you aren't waiting anymore, so let's go."

Monica walked in front of Brian. "Hey, Fuentes," Brian called out.

Monica turned around. Brian took out his keys and tossed them to her. She surprised herself when she caught them. "What are these for?"

"If I'm gonna race, you are gonna drive me around."

**Okay… sorry I took so long to update this one. Pretty lame. I don't really know how to write romancy stuff. And I don't really like Brian with Monica; I liked him better with Mia. Well, in the next chapter it will be more exciting because there will be a race. Please review. Thank a lot. Lil-Rock**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Shane makes an appearance in this chapter. I also own the three racers that Brian goes up against. That is it. Um… as a warning I think that the f-bomb gets dropped in this chapter.**

At the race, Tej, Jimmy, Suki, and Rome waited for Brian to arrive. Tej had Suki on his lap and kept looking at his watch. "Where is he?" Rome asked.

"He'll be here soon. I hope," Tej replied.

He forgot to mention that Brian would be bringing Monica. It had been seven minutes since he had gotten off the phone with Brian, and Tej was beginning to think he would have to push back the race to wait for him. He stood up to make the announcement with two minutes left, when the Skyline appeared. Rome and Tej walked up to the car. "What took you so long…Monica?" Rome said when he saw Monica in the driver's seat.

"Nice to see you too," Monica said.

Monica and Brian both got out of the car. "So is it you or Brian who is racing tonight?" Tej asked.

"It's me," Brian said.

Tej walked off and Brian followed him. "I thought that I was gonna have to push back the race for you," Tej said. "Don't ever do that again."

"You were gonna push back a race for me? That is just so touching," Brian said. "So who's on the line tonight?"

"Toots in the black, Mac-D in the orange, and Gama in the green. Bright ass green."

"Who is my competition?"

"Actually, none of them," Tej said. "Get your ass on the line before I start the race without you."

Brian ran to his car, jumped in, and got on the line. He turned on his music and turned up the bass to psyche out his competition. He looked at the other racers and they looked like this was probably their fourth or fifth race. He turned back and saw that Tej was leaning in against his window. "No bridges this time right?" Brian asked.

"Not this time. I kinda don't wanna wreck your car. You haven't even had it for a full twenty-four hours."

"Thanks for that."

"Oh, before I forget, I need your cash." Brian reached into his pocket and took out his wallet. He also reached into his other pocket and took out his four thousand dollars. He slapped it into his hand. "Three miles tonight. Get ready."

"Always ready," Brian replied.

Tej stood on the side of the cars and silenced the crowd. Suki walked over to him and placed a blow horn in his hands. "All right, all right, all right. Ladies and gents, I'd like to thank everyone for showing up. Thanks to all you who helped us today with… everything." He didn't really want to say anything involving the cops. "There ain't no tricks in tonight's last race. No bridges like last time. Sorry to disappoint you. Just some good ol' fashion racing. But I'd like to welcome back the much missed Skyline." Tej paused as the crowded mumbled in awe to see the return of the Skyline. "All right. Now enough chit-chat. Racer's you ready?" His response was the revving of each engine. "Go!"

And the racers were off. Tej wasn't lying when he said that Brian didn't have any competition. Brian quickly pulled out ahead of the competition. In far second was Toots. Then Gama. And last was Mac-D.

Toots inched closer toward Brian as the race progressed. In the second mile, he used up one of his tanks of NOS to tie it up. Brian looked and saw that the race was neck and neck. He contemplated using his NOS, but he was going to let the race play out. Toots used his second tank of NOS in the last mile and zoomed passed Brian.

Brian's eyes widened when he realized that there was a high chance he was going to lose the race. He waited until the last moment to use his NOS, so he shifted gears and slowly crept up on Toots. He backed off a little when he saw Toots's car start swerving.

All of a sudden, Toot's car drifted, right in front of Brian. Brian was a few inches from hitting it, but he swerved out of the way. His grip on the steering wheel was so tight that his knuckles turned white. His chest was heaving, and he could have sworn that his heart stopped for a few seconds.

In the crowd, everyone held their breath for those ten seconds as if breathing would have been the cause of a disaster. Which is what it would have been if Brian wasn't such an experienced driver. The crowd cheered as he crossed the finish line first.

Brian stepped out of the car and was met with a lot of people congratulating him on winning the race. He faked a smile, but he was filled with anxiety. And Rome noticed it. "Eh, you aight?" Rome asked, when he was at Brian's side.

"Yeah."

"Don't fricken lie to me, Brian."

"Probably the first time he's ever had to use NOS. It was just an amateur racer's mistake."

"Really? Because it was like watching that same fucken accident happen all over again from the sideline, but this time you were the driver. I never thought I would see something like that again."

"Rome, it's all right. It was a moment that we don't need to worry about. And we don't need to bring up the past. Not tonight at least. I'm good."

"Then why do you look like you've just seen a ghost?"

Tej walked up and separated the two. Tej took the money out of his pocket and slapped it in his hand. "Like your car was never broken," he said with a smile plastered on his face.

Obviously, Tej didn't realize that Rome and Brian were having another animated conversation. Rome leaned in toward Brian. "Like you need any more cash," Rome whispered.

Brian completely ignored what Rome said. He counted seven hundred dollars and gave it to Tej. "Mutual respect, bro," Brian said.

He looked up and saw someone in the crowd. He fought through the people to try and reach this person. "Hey Shane!" he yelled.

Shane turned around when he heard his name called. He saw Brian and walked over to him. "Brian. I didn't think that you would actually be here," he said shaking Brian's hand.

"It's good to see you here."

"Yeah, same here. Racing the Skyline already? I would have thought you would give your ride at least a day to recover."

"I needed to show off the repair job," Brian smiled. "And hey, I won. Thanks entirely to you. I have something to give you," he said reaching into his pocket.

"If you give me any money right now, I will give it away." Brian took his hand out of his pocket and held both of them in the air. "Oh yeah, before I forget. I got some news that you might want to hear."

"What is it?"

"Walk with me," Shane said. He walked away from the crowded streets, and Brian followed. "So, after you left, Bilkins came by," he started. "He was stoked to see you didn't wreck the Sedan. But anyway, he dropped off the Spyder and Evo."

"Oh. That's cool."

"They were in pretty good shape actually. So I got around to talking to Bilkins."

"I don't need a play by play, Shane."

Shane stopped himself from going any further in the unnecessary part of the conversation. "Right. Well, he said you guys can keep the cars."

"Shit. Are you serious?" he said in such disbelief that he covered his mouth

"No way would I joke about something like this. He said that he has no further use for them. So, you can pick them up in a week."

"Shane, you don't have to get started on them right away."

"I don't have anything else to do. I might have to do a little tweaks here and there, but it all grade school."

"Grade school?" Brian asked. His brow was furrowed in confusion.

"Things a kid could do."

"I wish that they offered you to be my partner instead of that guy with the pizza."

"Agent Dunn and the whole Gallo thing. I heard about that. Very clever."

"What can I say? I try."

"Well, besides that I could have never been your partner in this mission."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a driver. Well, I drive, but I'm not a racer," Shane said. He pointed to himself. "I am more of a behind the scenes person. And you wouldn't have made up with Rome."

"True. So since you're not a racer, what are you driving?"

"Nothing special. It's a truck."

"I think that I'm gonna have to see it," Brian said.

"I guess, if you really want to," Shane said.

They walked a block down the street and turned into an alley. In the alley was a White Excursion. The windows were tinted as legally or illegally as they could get. The rims were huge and painted white. And the truck was lifted a few inches. "It's pretty nice," Brian said.

"Nice to know you approve," Shane replied.

He unlocked his truck and the doors automatically opened. Shane got into the driver's seat and Brian got into the passenger's. Shane started the car and turned on the air condition. "So what are you listening to?" Brian asked pressing the eject button on the CD player. The CD that he saw come out of it was the shock of his life. It was so shocking that his jaw almost hit the floor. "Shania Twain? Country?"

"Don't be dissing my country music. Shania is the shit," Shane said.

"Right. I don't really know what to say to that?"

"Don't say anything; just put her CD back in the player."

Brian laughed and played the CD. Halfway through one of the songs, he felt his leg vibrating. He turned down the music and answered it. "'Sup, Tej," he said answering his phone.

"Where the hell are you? First, you make me almost have to postpone a race. Then, you win the race. And then, you disappear. Where the hell are you?"

"I'm talking to the person who fixed my Skyline."

"No, shit. Bring him over. I wanna meet this kid."

Brian took his phone away from his ear and covered the mouthpiece. "Tej wants to meet you," he said to Brian.

Shane shook his head. "No way. I'm not worthy."

Brian rolled his eyes and brought the phone back to his ear. "He is too scared."

"About what?"

"He says he's not worthy to bask in the glory of the famous Tej."

"Are you kidding me? Well, get your ass back here. Monica is looking for you."

"Shit," Brian said. "I'll be right there."

Brian hung up his phone and opened his door. "Duty calls?" Shane asked.

"Yeah. In all of the excitement, I kinda forgot that I was on a date."

"Then go. Fuentes is a pretty little thing," Shane said.

"Thanks for everything again, Shane," Brian said. "You have lived up to your god-like hype."

He saluted Shane, closed his door, and turned to walk back to the racing ground. Shane turned off his car, got out of it, and followed Brian. "Brian!" he yelled.

Brian turned around and saw Shane running at him. "Yeah?"

"I know that you were trying to hide it, but I saw how shook you were when you stepped out of your car. I've never seen anyone so shaken. You've seen it happen before haven't you?"

"Kinda."

"Well, I hope something like that doesn't stop you from racing."

"It won't."

"All right. Well, I guess I will see you around. I'll give you a call about your other cars."

"Thanks," Brian laughed. "I think you are gonna get tired of me saying thanks real soon."

"It's all good. Now go get back to your girl. I gotta get to sleep so I can get an early start on my masterpieces."

Shane ran back to his Excursion. Brian saw it pull out of the alley and made his way back to the grounds. He stopped walking when he realized what Shane had said. "She is not my girl," he said.

**Okay, so I guess that this isn't gonna be very romantic, but it wasn't supposed to be. I was gonna put him with Mia in the beginning. Actually it was just an idea. But since a few people have said that they don't want Brian with her, I guess it's a sign. Maybe OC, but I did say that it wasn't gonna be and OC romance in the beginning. Guess he's gonna be single. I'm sorry if this chapter was horrible. The racing scene didn't seem all too exciting. Oh well. Please review and thanks for reading. Lil-Rock**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own Toots. I think that is it.**

Brian walked back to the races alone and was stopped by a lot of people in the crowd who were still congratulating him on his win. He sighed and rolled his eyes because he had heard it all before. After he fought through half the crowd, he was met by Suki, Rome, Jimmy, and Tej. "Where ya been?" Rome asked.

Brian was about to answer, but he was interrupted by Tej. "So, where is the kid?"

"Kid?" Rome asked. "What kid?" Rome was visibly confused about the conversation that was going on around him.

Brian read the confusion plastered on Rome's face and smiled. "The guy who fixed my Skyline," Brian said, answering Rome's question. Then he looked over to Tej. "He had to go. He is working on a new project."

"Care to share?" Suki asked.

"Um… I don't think that I'm at liberty to say."

"Don't introduce him to Tej, Bullet. He will put me out of a job," Jimmy said.

"I wouldn't do that, Jimmy. It's all about loyalty," Tej said. "But if I did hire him, it would give you more time to spend with that honey of yours."

"I don't have a honey," Jimmy replied.

"Exactly. 'Cause you spend all your time in the garage."

Brian looked around and saw that one person was missing from this little get together. "So where is Monica?"

He felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around. "Nice race, playboy," Monica said.

"Thanks."

She was about to ask about the near accident, but she decided against it. Brian came over and put his arm around her. Monica gave him a look, but stayed where she was. "So where'd you disappear off to?"

"Nowhere you have to worry your pretty little face about."

"I wasn't worried. So where are we off to next?"

"You don't want to stay here a little longer?" Brian replied.

"The race is over, playboy," she said pointing to everyone getting ready to leave. "So where are we going to now?"

"I don't know. Where do you want to go?" Brian asked, being the polite gentleman that he was.

"What, Bullet? You ain't coming over for the after party at my garage?" Tej asked. It sounded like he was insulted.

"I didn't know we were invited," Brian replied.

"Didn't know if you were invited my ass."

"I didn't," Brian defended.

"What the hell were you two gonna do?" Rome asked.

Suki got herself in the middle of Brian, Rome, and Tej. "Well, consider yourself and Monica invited," she said.

"Why thank you," Monica replied.

Tej stepped around Monica and Suki toward Brian. He pulled him to the side. "Well, we're gonna head there now," Tej said. "Will we see you there?"

Brian gave him a handshake. "Of course, man." He walked over to Suki and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you later."

"You better," she replied.

Brian took Monica's hand and led her to his Skyline. Brian and Monica walked over to his car and opened the door for Monica to get in. Just as he was about to get it, he was stopped by someone in a beanie. "Eh, Brian," the person said.

Brian realized that it was Toots. "Hey, Toots."

"Man, I'm so sorry about almost making you crash." Toots felt extremely guilty. And honestly, he was scared. He would be an outcast in the racing community if he hurt the famous Brian.

"It's all right, Toots. You're just gotta get used to the NOS."

"I know. But I'm so sorry. I was just going so fast, and I didn't know what to do but pull on my E brake."

"Don't worry. Amateur racer's anxiety."

"Yeah, I guess I gotta fix that. Hey, maybe I can race you again sometime."

Brian held his hand out to the amateur. Toots grabbed it and shook it. "You never know," Brian said. He opened the door for Monica and she got into the car. He followed soon after and they drove off to Tej's garage.

At Tej's garage, there were a lot more people there than Brian expected. He walked around the garage with Monica under his arm. They walked to the back of the garage and took a seat outside on the dock. Brian looked over at Monica and saw her yawn. He laughed and received a punch from her in the shoulder. He rubbed his shoulder and feigned hurt. "What, playboy? Did I hurt you?"

"Ow," Brian said. "Did I do something wrong?"

"I'm tired and you laughed at me."

Tej appeared out of nowhere, walked over, and sat down next to Monica. "You know, the party is inside," he said. "You can chill with Suki."

Monica smiled at Tej and stood up. She needed to walk around, because if she didn't, she was going to fall asleep and probably fall into the water. She and walked inside the garage and looked for Suki. "What do you want to talk about, Tej?" Brian asked.

Brian thought it had to have been something bad if Tej wanted talk to him alone. And these conversations were never pleasant. "So what the hell was I listening to in the background when I called you?" Tej asked.

Brian was floored by the comment. So maybe the conversation wasn't going to be as horrible as he thought. But it was a random topic of conversation. "You don't want to know."

"I did ask."

"No, really, Tej. You don't want to know."

"Just tell me." Tej was getting irritated. All he wanted to know was what Brian was listening to. It sounded interesting.

Brian sighed. He knew that if he didn't tell Tej soon, he was going to end up in the water. "Shania Twain," Brian said flatly.

Tej's eyes widened and he braced himself on the dock. "Damn. You were right."

"Yup. Apparently, it's the music of the gods."

"And this coming from a superhero," said Monica sneaking up on them.

Behind her was Suki and Rome. Rome didn't understand how Monica knew about the superhero inside joke from when they were kids. "You told her about—"

"No," Brian interrupted. "She only knows that someone calls… called me that." Brian looked over and Monica and saw her yawn again. "You tired?" Brian asked.

Monica yawned once more. "A little."

"What time is your flight tomorrow?"

"I think it is at six. It's the first flight if I'm not mistaken."

Brian looked at his watch. "Then, I think that I should get you home."

He stood up from the dock and Tej followed. He said goodbye to Suki, Jimmy, and Rome and the both of them headed to his Skyline. "Yo, Monica!" Tej yelled.

Monica turned around. "Yeah."

"The next time you come down here, look us up. And you gotta stay at one of our parties for more than fifteen minutes."

"Will do," she replied.

They got into the car and Monica reclined her seat to lie back. Monica gave Brian the directions to where she was staying when she wasn't at Verone's. He forced himself to remember every detail, because not too long after she told him the place, she fell asleep. He got to the place half and hour later and looked at his passenger. He didn't have the heart to wake her.

He put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her. Her eyes slowly opened as she sat up. "What happened?" she asked, sleep coating her voice.

"We're here," Brian said.

"Oh. Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks for the ride," she said putting her seat back up.

"Never a problem."

Monica got out of the car and so did Brian. "Thank you. For everything. I'm not going to say for what. Just everything."

"You're welcome. For everything."

"I know that I told you this already earlier today, but it really was a pleasure working with you."

"Same here."

"I guess I'll be seeing you around," she said looking at her front door.

"I hope so. Don't be a stranger," he replied.

"Stay out of trouble."

"I can't make any guarantees." She turned to walk away. Brian reached forward and grabbed her hand. She turned around and stared at him. He pulled her in and kissed her on the cheek. It didn't mean anything more than an innocent good bye kiss. "But I'll try," he said with a smile on his face.

He let go of his hand and let her walk into her house. Brian got into his car and drove back to his boat.

He got out and forced himself to make it to his bed. When he got there, he fell onto it like a ton of bricks. He didn't even have the strength to change his clothes, or take off his shoes, or adjust his position. He closed his eyes and fitfully fell asleep. "Kit," he said, with his last breath of consciousness.

**Sorry that this chapter turned out to be kinda short and it took forever to update. Yeah I know. I didn't want it to be forced, but it kinda was. I just needed to close the Monica chapter part of this story. The next chapter is gonna take place a couple of months after this chapter. Hopefully it will make sense. And again, I am so sorry that I took super long to update this one. I'll try not to do it again, but I can't make any promises. Thanks to all those who reviewed my previous chapters. Please review this one. And thanks. Lil-Rock**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, I own Shane. That is it for now. **

One Month Later

Brian walked into Tej's garage, which wasn't yet open. It was way too early in the morning for any work to get done. Brian's hair wasn't even combed and he could barely keep his eyes open, but his stomach grumbling woke him up. "Tej! Got some bread?" Brian asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

He continued walking blindly through the garage. The next thing he knew he was on the ground landing on something that shouldn't be in a garage. At least not that early in the morning when he was looking for bread. "Ow."

A person rolled out from under a car and started rubbing his legs. "Shane? What are you doing here? Do you know how early it is?"

"I could ask you the same thing. About you being here."

"French toast."

"Ran out of bread again?"

"Yeah. Where is Tej?"

"He's sleeping on the couch. I think he's with Suki. They were playing Grand Theft Auto pretty hard until early this morning."

Brian laughed, because no matter how immature that one statement sounded, it was most likely true. "Still think you're not worthy to be in the presence of the great Tej?"

"Of course I do. But thanks for being such a sneaky little ass," Shane said sarcastically. Shane held out is hand to ask Brian to help him up. Brian pulled Shane's hand and struggled to get both of them standing. "By the way, I still haven't forgiven you for that."

_Flashback_

_Three Weeks Earlier_

_Brian sat in Tej's garage with a Coke in his hand. He jumped up from his seat when he felt a vibration on his leg. All of the people in the garage stopped what they were doing and stared at him. He looked like he was getting electrocuted the way he was moving. Brian set down his Coke and answered his phone. "O'Conner," he said._

"_God, Brian, stop with the cop speak," the person on the other line said._

"_Sorry, Shane. It's a habit. It's my job. Was my job. So, what's up?" His eyes widened when he realized what day it was. "Today?"_

"_Oh, yeah. The cars are done," Shane said. "You can pick them up whenever you like."_

"_Today."_

"_Today?" Shane said in disbelief. "You do know you have two cars."_

"_I know. I'll make two trips."_

"_I don't know how that is gonna work, but whatever floats your boat?" Shane replied. "So what time can I expect you?"_

"_Now."_

"_Now?"_

"_It's a little weird, because we are in two different places, and I swear that I can hear an echo," Brian said._

"_Smart ass."_

"_I try to be. Well, I guess I'll see you in a few."_

"_I guess so," Shane said._

_Brian hung up his phone and saw everyone in the garage staring at him. He acted like he didn't see it and tried to walk between Tej and Rome. Tej and Rome both held out their arms, blocking Brian's way, and stopping him. "Who was that?" Rome asked._

"_It was Shane."_

"_What does he want?" Tej asked._

"_Um… I think that I have to take my Skyline in for a checkup."_

"_Bullshit," Rome replied._

"_Yeah. But how would you like to go on a field trip."_

"_To where?" Rome said._

"_Can you drive with one arm?"_

"_You know I can," Rome replied._

"_Okay, then. Rome and Tej, in the backseat of the Skyline." Tej and Rome turned and looked at each other, neither one making a move. "I can always leave without you guys."_

_Brian walked toward the car. "Suki! Jimmy! Watch over the garage for me!" Tej yelled._

"_Where the hell are you guys going?" Suki yelled back._

"_Out. We'll be back!"_

_Rome got into the backseat of the car and Tej got into the passenger's seat. Rome and Tej sat in silence as Brian drove them to an unknown destination. They pulled up outside of the warehouse and they all got out of the car. "Where the hell are we?" Tej asked._

"_This is the Customs warehouse," Rome said when he realized where they were._

"_No way, Bullet. I don't do cops. I had enough of them to last me a lifetime in the past week," Tej replied._

"_We aren't meeting with any cops. You get to meet the famous or infamous Shane," Brian said. Brian walked over to the metal door and pounded on it. "Shane!"_

_Tej and Rome stood in front of Brian in a protective stance. They both stood with their arms folded across their chests looking quite intimidating. The door rolled up and Shane's eyes widened at the two men, who he had never seen before, standing in front of him. _

_Shane stepped back in fear. "This is the kid?" Rome and Tej asked at the same time._

"_Who are you?" Shane asked. _

_Shane's mind was screaming to shut the door or run or maybe both. He jumped up to try and close the door, but a familiar voice stopped him. "Shane man, it's all right," Brian said stepping between Tej and Rome._

"_What's with the body guards? Because that's not disturbing at all," Shane said, running his fingers through his hair. He looked the same like the last time Brian came to the warehouse. Covered in car grease, goggles on his head. Everything was the same. _

"_They aren't my body guards."_

"_Oh. No shit. Holy shit!" Shane leaned forward and grabbed Brian's arm. He pulled him into the garage. "You brought Tej here," he whispered. "Holy shit."_

_Brian could see that Shane was shaking. Brian put his arm around Shane in reassurance. "It's okay, Shane. They wanted to meet you. I promise, nothing will happen to you. Calm down. Just breathe." Shane halfheartedly nodded after taking a few deep breaths. **I think that I'm gonna have to toughen this kid out, **Brian thought. Brian led Shane back over to Tej and Rome. "Tej. Rome. This is Shane."_

"_Hi," Shane said raising his hand._

"_So, what do we owe the pleasure of this lil field trip?" Tej asked._

"_Pick up some cars," Brian said._

"_Oh, you sneaky son of a—," Shane said._

"_I don't know what you're talking about," Brian interrupted._

"_You knew I was—"_

"_Shane," Brian interrupted once more. "Just show them the cars."_

"_Shane, just show them the cars," Shane mocked under his breath. He walked away from the three men standing at the door._

"_Homeboy sounds mad," Rome said._

_Brian flashed Rome a quick smile. "He didn't know you guys were coming."_

_Brian followed after Shane. Rome and Tej followed Brian thinking that it was safe to go into a Customs warehouse. "Why am I not surprised?" Tej said. "We didn't even know we were coming."_

_Shane stood in between two covered cars. Tej, Brian, and Rome stood in front of Shane. Shane took a cover of a different car in each hand. "Gentlemen and…Brian. I present to you," he paused and pulled off the covers. "The Evo and Spyder. Now officially in the possession of Brian O'Conner. Police tracker free."_

_Tej and Rome turned around to Brian and was greeted with him grinning ear to ear. "The kid did this?" Tej said._

"_The kid has a name," Brian said._

"_Sorry… Shane, right?" Tej received a nod. "You look like you should still be in high school."_

_Rome ignored the conversation going on around him and made his way over to the Spyder. He looked like he was in a trance. He ran his cast-free hand over the graphics. To him it looked like brand new. "Damn. He's good," he whispered to himself._

_Brian walked over to Shane and threw his arm around him. He ruffled through Shane's hair and smiled. "Awww, daddy, can I keep him?" Brian said to Tej._

_Shane fought his way out of Brian's grip. "Man, Brian," Shane said attempting to straighten his hair out. It didn't make any difference. "You talk about me like I'm a puppy in a pet store."_

"_No, I'm not," Brian replied. "Puppies are better looking."_

_Shane raised his left hand and flipped Brian off. Tej walked over to Shane and pushed his hand down. Tej shook his head in disproval. "So, Shane. Tell me what you did with these cars?"_

"_Well, considering all the shit that these two boneheads put these cars through, there wasn't really that much to fix. I took out the trackers, popped the dents, covered the scratches, replaced anything in the engine that I didn't like. That's it. Oh, but I changed the windows. I made them bullet proof."_

"_Kinda late for that don't you think?" Rome said._

"_You never know," Shane replied._

"_Stop giving him a hard time. He fixed your car," Brian said coming to Shane's defense._

"_My car?" Rome asked._

"_Yeah."_

"_Shane? Is this the only place you work?" Tej asked._

"_If he had his way, he would work at Subway," Brian said._

"_Hey," Shane started and paused. He looked down and smiled. "That's true. They wouldn't hire me with the record that I've got. But I don't have another job. I'm a bum."_

"_When you aren't working here, you're working for me. You've got a job at my garage," Tej said._

_Brian froze at the familiarity of those words. But this time it wasn't being said to him. Brian walked over to Shane and threw his arm around his shoulders again. "Looks like I just got you a job with Tej," Brian said, thinking that he had just gotten off of the hook._

_Shane turned his head toward Brian. "You just wait. When you least expect it... I'll get you back," he said only loud enough for Brian to hear._

"_I'll be waiting," Brian replied._

_End Flashback_

"I'm still waiting," Brian said.

Shane looked at him and smiled. He wasn't going to do anything to Brian. Well, besides thank him about a hundred more times for getting him a job at Tej's Garage. Shane shook his head. Revenge, even for something as dumb as the situation he was in, wasn't his forte. "Um…" Shane started, trying to change the subject. "Why don't we go look for your bread?"

The two of them walked into the kitchen and opened up every cabinet looking for a loaf. Brian felt the craving for French toast today. "Did you find anything, Shane?" Brian asked.

"I got some bad news, Brian," he replied.

"I take that as a no." Shane nodded. "Damn." He paced back and forth trying to think of an idea. He looked up at the clock and realized that it wasn't as early as he thought it was. It was early enough to go to the supermarket and pick something up. But knowing him, by the time he bought it, he would be over his craving. "We're going for a ride," Brian said.

Shane knew where he was going with his train of thought. Brian wanted bread, and he was going to get it. "You're still in your pjs," Shane replied.

"Oh, right," Brian stated. "I think that I'm gonna have to steal someone's pants. Did they do laundry yet this week?"

"I honestly would not know."

Brian walked out of the garage and into the house area of the property. He appeared a few minutes later sporting someone's shorts. Shane was guessing that it was probably Rome's because it was a rather loose on him. "Let's go," Brian said.

Shane shook his head. He really didn't want to go with Brian on a shopping trip. For one thing. He needed to stay and work. "I have three—"

"Cars that you need to work on. I know. And they'll still be here when you get back."

Shane finally gave in. In all honesty, he was hungry. And if he went with Brian, then he would get some breakfast. They both made their way to the Skyline and got in. Brian sped toward the nearest supermarket. It took them all of five minutes to get there. He parked his Skyline in the nearest available spot.

He ran out of the car so quickly that he forgot to turn it off. Shane shook his head in disproval. Brian had loosened up since the last case ended, but it was getting a little out of hand. He reached over to the driver's side and turned off the car. He got out and locked it, walking passed two guys leaning on the hood of a car. One of them wore a beanie, blue-tinted glasses and had a cigarette in his mouth while the other had his brown hair slicked back and a sliver chain around his neck.

He didn't take much notice to the guys, but he couldn't help but notice the car they were leaning on. It was a beautiful Toyota Supra. He couldn't help but stare as he walked by. "Nice car," he said. He had to give credit where credit was due.

"Yours too," replied the one with the cigarette pointing to the Skyline.

"It ain't mine."

"But you did the work?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"I could teach you a few things," the guy whispered. Shane realized that he needed to find Brian and made his way into the supermarket, leaving the two men alone. "It's a small world after all," he whispered.

"What are you talking about, man?" the guy in the beanie replied.

He pushed himself off the hood and knocked on the driver's window. It rolled down and on the other side it was a woman with long, dark hair and dark glasses. "What?" she spat.

"Did you see that?" he asked her.

"Did I see what, Jesse?" she replied.

**All right, so I made it that Tej lived at the garage because there was like some rooms that were built and all that stuff. I haven't watched the movie for awhile, but hey, it's fiction. I guess that Rome lives with Tej, because I really don't know where else to put him. Sorry for such the long wait. Homework has been killer this semester. But hey, summer's coming up and I'm definitely gonna update. If this chapter didn't make sense, it was supposed to take place one month after the last chapter. Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter and again I'm so sorry for the wait. Please review and I hope this turned out all right. Lil-Rock.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I own Shane. Anything else you haven't heard of before, I own.**

Jesse stepped away from the driver's side door and stared at the woman sitting inside. "Letty, am I seeing things?" Jesse asked. He needed that reassurance he knew Letty was going to give. She wasn't the person to mess around with his head.

Letty stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. Luckily for Jesse, she was wearing her sunglasses, because he would have been able to see the stares and glares she was giving him. She joined Leon who was still sitting on the hood of the car. "What are you seeing, Jesse?" she asked.

"That guy that got out of the Skyline. He looked like Spilner," he replied pointing toward the supermarket entrance.

"His name is O'Conner," Leon corrected.

Letty looked up at the mention of 'O'Conner' and in a flash, her blood began to boil. "I don't care what his name is," Letty said. "But I think that some people have some unfinished business with him." She didn't even know if it was really Brian or not, but even if there was a small possibility that it was him, she didn't want to pass up a chance for a confrontation.

A smile shaped on Jesse's face. He didn't recognize the tone in Letty's voice. "Field trip, anyone?" Jesse asked. He sounded like a kid in a toy store.

"Oh. Well, we are in Miami for a vacation," Leon started, "And vacations are supposed to hook up with new people or people from your past, right?"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Let's follow him," Jesse suggested.

"Do we go after him, or do we wait for him to come back out?" Leon asked.

"He's with someone."

"And that matters to me why, Jesse?" Letty spat.

"Why do you have to be catty about this?" Leon said, coming to Jesse's defense. Ever since Jesse was shot, they had all become a little more protective of him, not that they already weren't before.

"He almost got us arrested, Leon. I don't think I can easily let that slide. Why aren't you guys as angry with him as I am?"

"Because we're not in jail, _Leticia_. And I think that he may have had something to do with it."

"And he stayed with me until I could leave the hospital. As much as Vince hated it, but he didn't have to stay."

"It's funny the things people do when they feel guilty," she said softly, not sure if the others could hear her.

"Well, we don't have to worry about us going to him, because he is coming out right now," Leon said, pointing at the opening sliding glass doors.

Brian ran out of the market and toward his Skyline. He had gotten a lecture from Shane about leaving his car on, but Brian retorted with he knew that Shane would take care of it. But in his rush to get into the store to buy his bread, he had forgotten his wallet in the car. And now he was outside, still breadless.

After getting the right amount of cash, he walked back toward the market, but something in the parking lot caught his attention. He stumbled back like he had just walked into a wall. An orange Supra. That couldn't have just been a coincidence. He would have been able to recognize that car anywhere. He knew every car in Miami, and he took the chance to get to know every new racer.

But this car wasn't from Miami. And the racer definitely wasn't new. "It can't be," he whispered to himself.

He looked at the three people standing around the car and realized that it was time for that part of his past to catch up with him. He made a move to walk toward them, but he was one step behind, because the three were closing in on him.

Within thirty seconds, he was surrounded by three familiar faces. "Brian," Leon said.

"Leon. Letty. Jesse," he said nodding at each of them. "How's the chest?" he asked pointing to Jesse.

"Pretty good. I can smoke cigs again," he said holding up the cigarette between his fingers.

Brian rolled his eyes at him. "The bullets didn't kill you, but those just might," Brian replied.

"They're just so hard to quit. It is seriously like the hardest thing to do," Jesse replied.

**_I know,_** Brian thought. **_You have no idea how well I know._**

Leon stepped away from Letty and Jesse to take a look at the car. "Where in the blue hell did you get a Skyline?" Leon asked.

Letty became irritated with the small chat going on around her. She wanted to get out of there, or at least get some past business settled. "Cut the crap, Spilner," Letty said.

"It's O'Conner," Jesse, Leon, and Brian said simultaneously.

"I don't care what your last name is. All I know is that I have a problem with you, and so do a lot of other people in this world," Letty said point her finger at him. "Get in the car."

Brian stepped back in disbelief. He was nervous. He would have been scared if it was some gang that has just given him the order. Well, the three standing in front of him were a gang, but he knew them. He trusted them, even if the feeling wasn't mutual.

His hesitation made him less trustworthy to the three in front of him. "Brian, just get in the car. Please," Leon said.

"Yeah, we kinda don't want Letty beating up on you in a supermarket parking lot."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Brian asked.

"No," Letty yelled. "Now get your ass in the car before I make it so you don't have an ass."

Jesse's head started to hurt from all of the yelling coming from Letty. "Letty, do you really have to—"

"It's okay, Jesse," Brian replied. He really didn't want Jesse to get yelled at on his behalf.

Brian raised his hands to stop him front talking and made his way toward the Supra. He looked into it and saw that it hadn't changed from more than a year ago. He also noticed that there was one car, four people, and two seats. **_So how is this gonna work?_** he thought.

He didn't want to aggravate Letty any more so he got into back of the car. Jesse joined him because he was the smallest of the three. Letty got into the driver's seat and Leon into the passenger. As soon as both of the car doors closed, Brian knew that it was going to be a long ride. The tension was instantly felt between Brian and everyone else—mostly coming from Letty's direction.

The ride, from Brian's point of view, was quiet. Except for moments where Jesse felt that he needed to break the silence. He would start humming, but in return he would get yelled at by Letty to 'cut it out'. Leon would come to Jesse's defense and ask why Letty was so angry, then everyone would fall silent again. Thus starting it all over again. The pattern went on the entire ride.

He looked out the window and realized how different Miami looked when he wasn't racing or in the driver's seat. After about twenty minutes and another round of silence, he noticed that the car slowed and looked to see where he was. What he saw made his breath hitch in his throat.

Letty looked up into the rearview mirror when she heard him gasp and saw that Brian's complexion had paled considerably. "Why does he look like he just seen a ghost?" she asked.

Leon and Jesse turned to look at their passenger and noticed it too. Jesse looked out the window and saw three people looking like they have been waiting for awhile for them to meet up with them. "He probably just saw Dom…and Mia," he said not realizing the significance of his statement.

Letty parked the car and got out. Jesse and Leon followed, but closed the doors not forcing Brian to follow them out just yet. "Where the hell have you guys been?" Dom yelled.

Leon walked over to Vince and threw his arm around Vince's shoulders. "We saw something that you might like to see," he replied.

Vince fought to get out of Leon's grip and pushed him to the side. "We ain't damn tourists, Leon," Vince said. He had been waiting for fifteen minutes for these guys, and he wasn't exactly the most patient person in the world.

"Whoa, I don't know about you Vince, but it is something worth seeing. It's a beauty," Jesse replied.

"Jesse, the last time I heard you say that we were talking about—"

"Brian," Mia interrupted.

The door to the Supra opened and the reason they had to run from their home stepped out of the car multiplying the tension from the car by thousands.

**Okay, so I had a really hard time deciding where to stop this and that is why it took me forever to post. Don't worry, he isn't gonna end up with Mia. I know all of your guys' opinions about that. I just thought that they whole confrontation with Dom needed a chapter of its own. I know that it was short and not much happened. But the next chapter is close to done so it will be up soon. I promise. Please review. Lil-Rock**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: You all know what I own. If you don't know by now, I don't want you to know.**

**KINDA SORTA SPOILER IN MY AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END FOR TOKYO DRIFT. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, JUST SKIP OVER IT, REVIEW THE CHAPTER AND READ IT AFTER YOU SEE IT. There are two notes, the first one you can read, the second one is the Tokyo Drift one. Or if you don't care… just read it anyways.**

Brian braced himself for an ambush, and was surprised when it never came. He was expecting the ass kicking of a lifetime, not that he didn't deserve it, but everyone just stood in front of him. Waiting.

He thought that they were just waiting for the moment where he thought he was safe to attack. Any more standing around and he was going to make the first move. **_Time to stop running,_** he thought.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Dom held up a hand to stop him. "It's been awhile, Brian," he said in his deep voice.

Brian paused for a second to find his voice. "Yeah," he replied. That was all that he was able to force from his mouth, but he seemed okay with that.

"Your name is pretty well known around the country," he added.

He stuck his hands into the pockets of the shorts he borrowed out of a nervous habit. He stared at the ground, not able to stand the gazes of the six people in front of him. "Made a lot of friends when I ran," he said his voice trailing off with each word.

"Ran?" Jesse asked.

"I thought that the force fired you and you just made your way down here," Leon said.

Brian combed his hand through his hair, pausing and scratching the back of his head. "I wish it was that easy," he sighed remembering the trouble he had caused.

"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Dom asked. But he wasn't really giving Brian a choice.

Brian let out another long sigh. "After Jesse and Vince got better and was able to leave LA, I was brought in for questioning. They wanted me to tell them everything about you guys. The truck hijackings, why Jesse got shot, how you guys got away."

"And you wouldn't," Mia said. "You even covered for Vince."

The sound of her voice made him look up. "Yeah. I couldn't betray you guys twice in my lifetime. I made up my mind, but they gave me a few days to think about it. Then I ran. Came to a junction where I could have gone up to New York, but I chose down here. A lot of good that did me."

"What do you mean?" Mia asked.

"They found me down here. Dragged me into another case. Almost got killed. But it's okay. My record got cleared."

Vince stepped forward. "And what about our records?" he asked. He wasn't really concerned about Brian as he was about himself.

"They have nothing. I tried to find a way to contact you and tell you it was okay for you guys to go back home, but I didn't know if you guys would listen."

"Well, we're listening now," Dom said.

"Yeah," was the only reply that Brian had.

Dom took a few steps forward and Brian visibly tensed. Dom stopped and actually took a few steps back. "Why are you so tense, Brian?"

"Habit," he whispered.

"You look like you're getting ready for a beat down."

"Am I wrong?"

"Yeah," Letty said, walking forward her fists ready to fly.

Dom held out his arm to stop her. Letty stepped back and waited. After a few seconds, Dom walked toward Brian again. He raised his arm and put in on his shoulder. Brian looked at it and assured himself that it was on his shoulder and not connecting with his face. "I don't get it," Brian said.

"Look, I have a lot of reasons to hate you. We all do. I admit that. But I have more reasons to thank you. And for some reason, the good stuff outweighed the bad."

"I don't deserve this."

"But you do. You made sure that the people who shot Jesse got what they deserved and you stayed with him in the hospital when we couldn't. You got Vince help when he needed it. And from what you just told us, you had to run because of us when it would have been easier to turn us in. I'm thanking you right now."

"But—

"If you really want to get your ass kicked, I can let Letty and Vince beat you a good one. They can't forgive you as easily as some of us can."

Brian laughed nervously. "No, I'm good."

"Can you blame us?" Letty said.

"I just never liked you from the beginning," Vince added.

"Yeah, I gained your trust, then I lost it. I'm sorry."

"You gotta earn it again," Dom said.

"And you gotta stop apologizing, Brian," Jesse said. He stepped forward, wanting to have a talk with him. "Oh yeah, that was a nice Skyline back at the market. Who was the guy that did the work?"

"Shane. He's a mastermind. But he got a lot of work to do to be able to do the stuff you do," Brian replied.

"Shane, huh?" Dom asked. His tone sounded like he wanted to take Shane under his wing.

"Yeah, Shane," Brian smiled. His smile quickly turned into a frown when he realized where he was and where Shane was. "Shit. Shane. I left him at the market. I gotta get back to him."

Brian turned and began walking toward the market. "I can take you," Mia said.

Dom stood beside his sister. "We're all going," Dom said to his sister.

"No, but he's riding with me."

"Fine," he conceded. "Try not to kill him on the way there."

Mia shot her older brother a 'don't mess with me right now' look and Dom had no choice but to back off. "Funny," she spat.

Dom smiled knowing just the right words to say to his sister. He didn't expect her to act so fiery, but he didn't expect to see Brian down in Miami either. With him thrown in the mix, anything was expected.

Mia turned around and trudged off to her car. She got in, but didn't start her car. Brian looked back and forth between Mia's car and Dom. "I think she's waiting for you," Dom said.

Brian timidly walked to Mia's car and opened the door. He bent down and looked inside. "Get in," she said.

He got into the car and he could have sworn that he heard the other team members laughing. Mia started the car before he closed the door and sped off after it closed. She didn't wait for everyone else to follow them. "Um… do you know where you're going?" Brian asked after about a minute of driving.

"How have you been, Brian?" Mia asked ignoring his question.

"I've been good, I guess. Could be better, could definitely be worse."

"That's good," she said, then the car fell silent again.

"I imagined this conversation going totally different in my head," Brian said, not being able to handle the quiet. "Turn right."

Mia took the turn and kept her eyes on the road. "You call this a conversation?"

"Yeah. Sorta."

"Is that good or bad? The conversation now compared to the one in your head, I mean."

"I don't know yet."

Mia slowed the car and glanced over to her passenger. "Do you want to find out?"

He looked at her and their eyes met for a split second before he broke the stare. "I don't know. Mia, I'm sorry. I didn't—"

Mia gassed the car, interrupting Brian's apology. "Brian, stop. Jesse already told you that you gotta stop apologizing. And besides, Dom already forgave you."

Brian looked behind to see if the other cars were following them. When he saw two cars pull up behind him, he returned to facing forward. "That doesn't stop Letty and Vince from having their doubts about me. Take a right at the second stop light."

"Do I look like Letty or Vince to you?" she spat.

"Mia," he said trying to get control of the conversation.

"Look, what happened in the past, that's where it needs to stay. You've been forgiven from the team. From certain individuals? I can't really say the same."

"Can we talk about it?" Brian asked.

"No," she said adamantly.

"I wish things were different," he said hopefully.

"I don't know if I feel the same."

"You happy with how everything turned out?"

"Of course not. But things can't go back to the way they used to be. No matter how much I want it too."

"Okay," he conceded. He could always talk to her about it later. Preferably after he's had some time to get back in all of their good graces. Or maybe he'd just let it go, like she wanted him to. "Take a left here," he said pointing down the street.

Mia sped up and took a left where Brian had pointed. They pulled into the parking lot and saw Shane pacing in front of the Skyline. They parked facing the Skyline and the rest of the team's cars followed suit. Brian got out of the car and ran toward Shane. "Shane," he said.

"Where the hell have you been?" he yelled. "I thought you were kidnapped or something."

"Shane. I'm fine." Brian looked at Shane's hand and saw that he had a cell phone in his hand. "Shane? What did you do?"

"I called Tej and everyone else. I was worried."

"Shane," Brian chastised. "Call them and tell them I'm fine."

Shane began to dial the number but stopped when he heard the familiar sound of the Spyder and three more cars. Everyone in the parking lot turned their head toward the entrance. **_Too late_**, Brian thought.

**Yeah, I know the resolution between Brian and Dom's team was lame. But even though he's been forgive, it doesn't mean that it's the end of the problems with some of them. He still gotta earn their trust. And there is more of his past coming to bit him in the ass. Next chapter is Tej, Dom, and Rome meeting. What a great mix. Please review. Lil-Rock**

**TOKYO DRIFT AUTHOR'S NOTE…**

**So I just saw Tokyo Drift. There's not much I can say about it. Cars were gorgeous. Almost cried every time the main guy crashed any of the cars. There was one awesome character. Han is badass! So I was wondering, should I pay homage to him in this story or should I write a whole different story that could eventually tie into this. If you haven't seen it, you won't know what I'm talking about. Yes or no? All right, so this is the next chapter. Thanks for all the great reviews from before, and please review this chapter. Lil-Rock**


	10. Chapter 10

**What? An update? Finally?**

**Disclaimer: I own Shane and I think that's all in this chapter.**

The four cars that pulled into the parking lot surrounded Brian's Skyline. Rome was the first person to come charging out of his car and he didn't look happy to be awake. Brian walked over to him to calm him down, but Rome grabbed his shirt and dragged him over to Shane. "Hey… Rome," Shane whispered recognizing the fire in Rome's eyes.

Rome let go of Brian's shirt and stopped practically an inch away from Shane's face. "What the hell, Shane?" Rome yelled.

It took everything in Shane not to run away or throw up on Rome's shoes. "I… I… I—" he stuttered.

"You call us here," he interrupted, "scaring the shit out of us, screaming, 'Brian's missing. I don't know where he is. He isn't in the parking lot,'" he finished mockingly.

"He _was_ missing," Shane retorted.

"He looks fine to me." Rome grabbed Brian's shirt again and put him directly in front of Shane's gaze. He then shifted his glare from the young mechanic to his old friend, letting him go. "You okay, Brian?" he asked in irritation.

Brian looked down trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt. "Yeah, I'm fine. I—"

Rome turned to face Shane. "See, he's fine. Do you know what time it is?" Rome asked.

At this point, everyone had gotten out of their cars and formed a circle around the three in the middle not wanting to intervene. Everyone in the parking lot looked either at a watch or a cell phone. "It's—"

"It's too damn early for me to be saving your ass, Brian," he interrupted Shane once again.

Brian had enough of Rome's assault on Shane and finally got involved. "Leave Shane alone, Rome. I really was gone for a few minutes."

"A few minutes! Almost half an hour!" Shane yelled, getting back his spunk.

Brian quickly turned to face Shane and scowled at him. "That's not the point," Brian hissed. He knew that if Rome realized how long he was actually gone for, then this argument was going to take a really bad turn. "And to think, all I wanted was some French toast."

"I'm never getting into a car with you again."

"Shane," Brian pleaded.

"No."

"You were almost gone for half an hour. What the hell were you doing, Brian?" Rome yelled changing what he was angry about, just like Brian predicted he would.

Brian raised an eyebrow at him. At least he turned Rome's attention from Shane to himself. He knew that he was one of the few people could deal with him when he was on a rampage. "See, you sound worried. You don't have a right to be mad at Shane."

"I swear to God, Brian. If my arm wasn't in a cast right now, I'd kick your ass."

"You should try now, because you couldn't take me without your cast," Brian taunted.

"Don't give me a reason to punch you, Brian."

Brian took a few steps away from his childhood friend. He knew his limits when it came to teasing him, and he knew that he was getting pretty close to them, if he hadn't already crossed them accidentally. "I'm trying to give you a reason _not_ to punch me. Because I'm showing you that there is no reason you should be mad! Tej, come on, back me up here."

"I can't, Bullet," he said with a bit of worry. "I'm a little concerned with where you were too."

"And who the hell are these clowns standing behind you?" Rome added.

_**That wasn't good**_, Brian thought to himself. _**This cannot end well.**_

"Clowns?" Vince growled, taking one step into the circle from the perimeter.

"Yeah, who are they, Bullet?" Jimmy asked. He moved from his position to look at the cars behind the strangers. "Never seen these cars before in this part of Florida before."

"They aren't from Florida."

"What do you mean, they're not from Florida?" Rome said, mocking Brian.

"Like he said, we're not from Florida," Dom said finally speaking up.

Rome then turned his attention from Brian to the bald man who had just stepped into the circle and spoken. "Then where the hell are you from?" Rome snarled. He needed someone to blame for waking him up that early in the morning.

"California," Dom simply replied. "Do you know who I am? Who we are?" Dom asked, pointing to himself and his team.

That really riled up Tej. "No, the question is, do you know who I am?" Tej countered. He was the racing know-it-all in Florida. He was the guy to know. And he wasn't going to let some guy from California try and take anything away from him.

"I don't give a damn about who you think you are," Vince said stepping up to Dom's side.

"You're Dominic Toretto," Shane mumbled, realized who was standing before him.

Tej's anger suddenly disappeared at the revelation. "Toretto? LA? What the hell are you doing on this side of the country?" Tej asked.

Shane turned and looked at the youngest member of Toretto's team. He hadn't heard a word that Tej had said. He was caught in his own world. "That means you're his mechanic, Jesse Davis. Holy shit, Brian. Jesse Davis complimented my work on your Skyline," Shane said gleefully.

"Still got a lot to learn," Jesse said again.

The tension between the two leaders of the Teams disappeared slowly. "Theodore J. Parker. Tej for short," he introduced holding his hand out to a legend in the racing world.

Dom took Tej's hand in his, not wanting any "You're Tej. Like the garage. The one with the pool in the back?"

"That's me," Tej answered proudly.

"What the hell is going on? Who the hell are these people, Brian?"

"Calm down, Rome."

"Don't even try, Brian."

"Too bad I'm telling you to calm down."

Somehow, Suki made it to the other side of the circle without interrupting the different arguments going on in the middle. On the other side, she came face to face with Mia and Letty. "Hey, name's Suki," she introduced sticking her hand out toward Mia.

Mia shook hands with Suki. "Mia Toretto. Dom's my brother," she pointed after she had let go.

"Letty Cortez," she introduced, also shaking Suki's hand.

"So who are these other guys?"

"The dummy with the chain is Leon, the mechanic is Jesse, and the guy with the temper is Vince. What about you?"

"Tej, Rome, the Asian one is Jimmy. And Shane is the baby."

"They fight like this often? Rome and Brian?"

"This is nothing. Both Rome and Brian are still standing. So it's okay."

"Still standing?" Letty said raising an eyebrow.

Suki laughed at Letty. "Yeah, usually by now, they're both on the ground wrestling. They should be at that point by now. But lately Brian's been showing some sort of restraint since Rome is in a cast." She shook her head and laughed to stop herself from going on a tangent. "Those your cars?"

"Yeah. The pink one yours?"

"Yup. Wanna help me stop the fight?" Suki asked pointing to the mindless arguing going on in a supermarket parking lot.

"Sure. This is a waste of my time," Letty said.

"Okay, so this is the plan," Suki said.

Suki came up with a quick plan to stop the fighting and turn the males' attention from each other to the neglected women. After Suki had the plan laid out, the three girls walked over to their cars and got in. Suki nodded and that was the signal to put their plan into action. The three of them turned on their systems and bass as loud as they possibly could without blowing their speakers.

All of the men involved in the arguments stopped at stared at the three women. That had gotten the attention of the men. Suki shut her car off and the two other women followed. "What the hell was that?" Tej asked.

Suki got out of her car and walked over to Tej. She stood at his side for a few seconds before she punched him in the arm. She waited for Mia and Letty to rejoin the group before she began talking. "I apologize for him being so rude not to introduce us. My name is Suki Koyama. It's nice to meet you guys," she said.

Everyone on Dom's Team instantly quieted at her introduction. "Koyama?" Dom asked.

"You say that like you've know someone with that same name?" Suki said.

"Maybe. You could possibly say that."

"Dom, not now," Mia said. "I'm sorry for my brother and his boneheads' stupidity. We're sorry… Shane?" He gave a nod in reply. "We knew Brian back when he was in LA and we needed to catch up. We didn't know that he was with anyone."

"We did," Leon replied.

Letty responded with a punch in the arm. Leon made a face of feigned pain and rubbed his arm. "Leon, shut it."

"Bottom line is, we're sorry," Mia said. "We've caught up and now we'll be going."

Dom's team all turned around and started to walk toward their cars. "Hold up, I can't just finally meet Dominic Toretto and not invite him a tour of my garage," Tej replied.

"We'll take a rain check," Dom said.

"It seems as if we've overstayed our welcome," Jesse said.

"Hold up!" Rome yelled, turning toward Tej. "We're going to let him come with us when we were just going to kick his ass not even a minute ago. Because his name is Toretto?"

"He declined," Brian said.

"Shut up, Brian."

Brian sighed. He was really getting irritated with his childhood friend. "Rome, I know that you're grouchy because Shane woke you up five hours before you normally do, but your little tantrum is going overboard."

"Hey, you two lovebirds. I don't know what happened between you guys or whatever, but now isn't the time to settle it," Vince finally said.

"This doesn't concern you," Rome growled.

"It does. Because you're talking about us like we aren't even here. I don't know who you are, but I know that I really don't like you."

"The feeling's mutual, bruh."

"You know what? Tej, is the offer for the tour still on the table?" Dom said.

"Yeah."

"I think I'd like to cash in that check now."

Brian grabbed Rome's not broken arm and pulled him off to the side. "Rome, I'm serious. Cool it. I knew these guys when I was in LA," Brian said aggressively, but quietly.

"You mean the same guys that were the reason you had to run down here."

Brian realized why Rome was so angry. It didn't just have to do with him waking up early in the morning. It also had to do with what they made his best friend have to do. "I'm not gonna answer that."

"You already did, Brian,"

"Rome."

"Just because everyone else is all right with them being here, doesn't mean that I have to be."

"I didn't expect it to be. Not off the back."

"Good."

"So, are you hungry?"

"Don't think that just because you're here offering me food I'm going to forget about them."

"I know, but I'm pretty sure I still owe you food for a couple more weeks."

"With every stunt you pull, you add years onto it."

"I'll try and cut back on the crazy stunts. Feeding you is costing me more money than a drug addict trying to support his habit," Brian tried to joke.

Unfortunately for him, Rome wasn't ready to joke around just yet. "Brian, seriously. I worry about you, a lot. Ten years you've been caught up in all of this."

"Rome, don't bring her up, not right now."

"I'm not going to. But I just need you to know, that it's taking me a lot longer to gain the trust of people. Especially these guys who forced you…" his voice trailed off.

Brian knew that Rome had some things to say to him that were left unsaid, and he knew the feeling was mutual. "Rome, I know you like to make your judgments on people when you first meet them, but you can't do that when you just wake up. Get to know them. For the most part, they're good people."

"You got a lot of respect for people who forced you across the country."

"Can you stop saying it like that? This was my choice."

"After their hand was played."

"Rome, no matter what I say to that, you're just going to find a way to use it to hate those guys more."

The two of them stood in silence for what seemed like a few minutes. "You slept with Toretto's sister, didn't you?" Rome whispered.

"Yeah," Brian replied knowing that it was no use trying to lie or cover it up.

"So I'm guessing that this is that Mia chick you were telling or trying to avoid telling me about."

"That's her."

"I'll give her a chance right now, and that's it. Just her."

Brian nodded in gratitude to his friend. They both walked over to the two groups that looked like they were almost getting along with each other. "Mia, you're riding with me," Brian said.

"What?" she replied harshly.

"That is, only if you and you're brother is okay with that."

"You're a big girl, Mia," Dom said.

"And what about my car?" Mia replied.

"And what about me?" Shane asked. "I'm not gonna be some third wheel in your car."

"Mia, do you trust my mechanic to drive your car?"

"Not really," she replied. "He looks really… unfocused."

"That's just how he is. You can't use that against him," Suki defended.

Jesse walked over to Mia. "Mia, you trust me right?" he asked. Mia replied with a nod. He wondered where Jesse was going with this. "Then you have to trust this guy."

"Why, Jesse? I just met him."

"Look at what he did to Brian's Skyline. Look at it." Mia turned her head to look at the silver Skyline sitting behind her. "How can you not trust someone who does amazing work like that?"

"You know that it means something if Jesse is saying it, right Mia?" Letty asked.

As much as Mia wanted to deny it, she knew that Letty and Jesse were right. She sauntered over to Shane, taking her keys out of her pocket. She grabbed Shane's wrist that seemed like it was glued to his side and opened his palm. She gently placed her keys in it, closing his fingers around them. "I'm temporarily trusting you. It takes a lot for you to earn the respect of Jesse, and you seem to be on your way. Take care of my baby, all right?" Shane let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Don't prove any of us wrong."

"All right," Tej said. "Now that we've got our riding situation controlled and everyone seems to be acquainted, let's head to the garage for something to eat."

Suki, Jimmy, and Brian smiled because Tej sounded like he was starting a race. Everyone broke up and walked to their respective cars, with Mia following Brian. She walked over to the passenger's side and waited. "That's the driver's seat," Brian said as he walked over to stand next to her.

"Then I guess I'm driving."

"You don't know where we're going."

"That didn't stop me from getting us here."

"But this is different."

"Fine," she said. She walked over to the other side of the car and waited for the door to unlock. As soon as it did, she was inside the car.

Brian got in, took a seat, and all of the other cars in the lot started. Tej's truck was the first to pull out of the lot followed by Rome's car. Then the cars from both crews left in a line. Mia's car, driven by Shane, was the second to the last car. Brian followed it, ending the line. Brian reached over to turn on the radio, but Mia's hand stopped him. "So, is there any reason why I needed to ride with you?"

"No."

"Really," she said, not convinced.

"Really. I was just offering you a ride."

"When I had my own car?"

"You could have said no."

"That's true."

"But you didn't," Brian stated. "And that's saying something."

Brian smiled, and Mia smiled too. Over the time that they had been apart, and everything that happened to her and her family while she was away, it gave her the time to forgive Brian. Not that she was mad at him at the first place. Just betrayed. But just sitting in the car with him was doing a lot to help those old wounds heal.

"So what kind of food is there to eat at Tej's?"

Brian turned around to look in the back of his car and what he saw made him smile. "French toast."

**Wow, more than a year to update a story. And here I was hoping that I would never come to that. Okay, I'm so sorry that it took me forever to update this. Honestly, I lost my inspiration for this. I had an idea where I wanted this story to go, but it changed in the past month or two. Also I was on my Han fix and wrote a one shot story. When I'm going to put it up? I don't know. This chapter is another filler because I expect a lot more to happen. And I feel newly inspired because I had a Fast and Furious marathon. Please review and thanks for staying with me. Lil-Rock**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own Shane. And that's pretty much it.**

Brian and Mia found a parking space outside of Tej's garage after everyone else before them had taken all the spots. Usually Brian would have parked in his usual place, but with the extra half a dozen cars in the line, it was a little difficult for him to do so. The ride over was, for the most part, pain free. A few awkward silences here and there, a laugh from Brian, a sigh from Mia. But they were baby steps.

Although they had found a space, they didn't get out of the car immediately. They both waited for the other to make the first move, but none was made. Brian reached for the door handle to open the door, but was interrupted by Mia. "So, do you want to tell me what Rome's problem is with us?" she asked.

"It's nothing," Brian said, his hand not leaving the handle.

"Brian."

"Like I said before, he's just mad that he had to wake up before noon," he replied.

"Brian, I thought that we weren't going to lie to each other anymore."

"I don't remember agreeing to that."

"I just thought that it was a given."

Brian knew that she was right. The Team had forgiven him, so he couldn't lie to them. Not again. "I can't tell you everything."

"Well, what can you tell me?"

"I can tell you that Rome is mad at me because I'm here. And not in California." He had finally let go of the door handle. He knew that he was going to be in the car a little longer than he wanted.

"But he's here too, so what would it matter?"

"I left someone in California." His voice got softer with each word. "Someone who needed me."

"Did Rome know this person too?" Mia asked. She was going to get all the information out of him that she could before his walls went back up.

"It was someone that we knew when we were in high school."

Regret. That's all that Mia could hear in Brian's voice, even though he tried to hide it. "It's haunting you, isn't it?"

"No," he said a little too quickly for Mia's liking.

She called his bluff. "Brian," she replied condescendingly. And that was the only tone she was going to use with him if he was going to lie to her.

"Mia, it's in the past. It needs to stay there."

"But if it's causing a rift between you and Rome—"

"No," he interrupted. "I'm in Florida. The problem is on the other side of the country. I can't do anything about it from here."

"Then why don't you just go back?" she asked as if the answer was so simple.

"Because I can't leave these people here. I care about them too much," he whispered, not caring if she didn't hear him. He wasn't going to repeat himself. "And it might be too late."

"You seem like you care about that someone in California a lot."

"I do. But the crew here wouldn't understand the whole situation. I have a life here now. The only person who would is Rome. But he's so mad about the whole thing that he would purposely be unsympathetic."

"I couldn't tell," Mia said sarcastically.

"Don't judge him, Mia. I put him between a rock and a hard place, and him being the stubborn ass that he is, is fighting it. I'm okay with him lashing out."

"It's an honorable thing you're doing, defending him even though he was about to rip your head off earlier."

"It's all in a day's work," Brian laughed. "He just needs to get a little food in him then he'll be… manageable. There have been worse days."

"I know. Suki told us."

Brian finally opened the door and stepped out of the car. He bent down to see that Mia hadn't moved from her seat. "Well, we should get inside before people start thinking the worst."

"Yeah. Sounds good," she opened her door slowly as to prolong seeing everyone else.

They walked into the garage and saw that the tour of it had just began. Tej walked the Californians to the back of the garage and showed them that he not only raced cars, but jet skis. "This place is crazy," Leon said.

"Yeah," Jesse replied. "Nothing like what we had back in LA."

"And we had nothing close to this when we were trying to work out of Mexico."

"Mexico?" Jimmy asked.

"Don't worry about it. It's in the past," Dom said.

"Okay, so we don't have anything to eat right now," Tej started, "but give us a few minutes, and we can get a grill going and start cooking up some food."

"I'll help," Jesse said. Shane quickly volunteered to be at Jesse's side, hoping for a few pointers eventually.

"Coronas?" Suki asked.

Everyone on Dom's team laughed to give her their answer, nobody caring that it was early in the day. Letty got up without a word and followed Suki to the beers. They returned struggling to keep the beers in their arms. Leon quickly stood up and grabbed a few out of their hands to make it easier for them.

Brian walked over to the grill to relieve Shane, Jesse, and Tej from cooking duty. He figured it was the least he could do for scaring them that morning. Jesse picked up two Coronas from the table and offered one to Shane. Shane shook his head to say no thanks, because he wasn't much of a drinker. "So, why is Rome in a cast?" Jesse asked after opening his beer.

"Do you need to ask?" Tej asked.

"The answer is gonna be Brian," Leon added.

"With a big cop chase," Suki said.

"And a boat," Rome finished.

"Oh, we just had a big rig," Jesse replied.

"And Vince was the one who hurt his arm," Mia pointed out.

"I think I'm starting to see a pattern with Brian and his stunts," Shane said.

"Oh, you guys have no idea," Rome said. "They started out small in the beginning, But they had to grow. I'm surprised that the Police Academy didn't throw his application out the window with the record him and our crew had back in the day."

"So, you're telling us that he really did boost cars," Jesse asked.

Rome paused for a second wondering if it was the best idea for him to be talking about Brian's personal life. He considered changing the subject, but everyone around him was hanging on his word. They all wanted to know about Brian's past. He had been secretive about it enough. Rome made a decision. "Yeah, that was the last thing that he did before he was thrown into Juvie. And he was okay with it."

"What do you mean he was okay with it?" Tej asked. He knew that Brian always had a reason for doing what he did, but Brian was a good guy. And he just couldn't think of a reason why he'd have to boost cars.

"He had a reason why he boosted cars. I can't tell you why, but I didn't argue with him about it."

"You agreed with him boosting cars?" Suki asked.

"No. I agreed with his reason for doing it."

"That doesn't make sense," Letty retorted.

"Because," he sighed, "you don't know the entire story."

"You want to tell us?" Mia asked.

_Flashback_

"_Broc!" Rome yelled. He ran after his friend who had just broken into someone else's car. "What the hell are you doing?" _

"_You know what I'm doing, Rome," he said reaching down for some wires._

"_Broc. Boosting cars? She wouldn't have wanted that."_

"_Well, I don't think that her opinion counts." He groaned when the car wouldn't start. "She's in a coma and we don't know when she's going to wake up. And that's my fault."_

"_Why the hell is it your fault?"_

"_Because it is, Rome. I promised her that I would always take care of her. And I didn't. The second I'm away from her, she gets put into a coma. I let her down. And her family doesn't give a shit about her, so they aren't gonna pay for these medical bills. So, as long as Riley keeps using his name and I keep paying him, she gets to stay there."_

"_So, you're gonna do it. By boosting cars?"_

"_Don't lecture me, Rome," he finally got the car started and sat up in the driver's seat. He closed the door before Rome could find a way to stop him. "Because you'd do the same thing."_

"_I wouldn't steal cars. I'm raising money. Me, Marty, Ready, Tricky, and the rest of us. We're doing it legally."  
_

"_It won't be enough," Brian said. He rolled up the windows of his car and drove away, leaving a disappointed Rome in the smoke._

_End Flashback_

"That's his personal life. One of the things that I'm involved in, but I try to stay out of."

"But you can't," Jesse said. "I mean, you were pretty much raised with him. You have to know a lot about Brian's personal life.

"And you can still be mad at him," Shane added.

"For some reason, I can't stay mad. Because, everything he does has a reason. And if you can't see it, or if he did something wrong, he does everything he can to fix it. Sometimes going beyond what he should be able to do."

"Impulsive," Mia whispered.

"But with a good heart," Suki defended.

"It's going to be his downfall one day," Tej said.

"If it hasn't already," Rome whispered under his breath.

Everyone sat in silence wondering exactly how much of Brian's life was kept from them. The only person who could have probably known was Rome, and even he appeared to not know the entire story. Everyone tried to paint their own mental picture of Brian's past, but they couldn't. Not with the amount of information they had, which sadly wasn't very much.

"Food's ready!" Brian yelled from the grill.

Everyone looked at him and smiled trying not to give away the fact that they had a discussion about his past. But they were all ready for food after the excitement of the morning. Learning more about Brian's past could wait until they were full.

**Here's the next chapter. Okay, so I finally know where I want this story to go. I had an idea with the last chapter, but in writing this one, it's just been cemented. There are a few chapters in the works. I promise there are more on the way. Thanks for staying with me whoever is still reading this. Please review. Lil-Rock.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: By now you guys should know that all I own is Shane.**

Dom and his team thought that they were going to spend only a week or two in Florida before they headed back toward the west coast. Nothing was keeping them from going home, but nothing was rushing them to get there either. They hadn't called that place home in over a year. And as clichéd as it may have sounded, as long as they were together, they were at home.

Three months had passed and they found themselves still in Miami. Tej had rented out a few places that he was in charge of to the their team, and they made themselves comfortable. They spent a lot of time at Tej's garage during the day. And at night, they were out on the streets making some cash to pay Tej back for his hospitality.

The team was slowly getting along with the Miami team. Jesse and Leon were getting along great with Shane and Jimmy, giving the young ones a few pointers. Mia, Letty and Suki were taking it easy, playing the peacemakers between the guys when they got out of control. Vince and Rome did their best to stay out of each other's way, knowing that they were just as stubborn and had the same temper as each other. Tej and Dom worked together on the business dealings of Tej's garage. All in all, the two teams were meshing quite well.

Except for Brian.

He felt lost between the two teams. But it was his own doing. Dom, Mia and everyone had forgiven him. Even Letty and Vince, although they didn't show it. But even so, he kept his distance.

He should have been happy, but history told him that as soon as he felt everything was right in the world, something would come along, slap him in the face and prove him wrong. The worst part about all of it for Brian was the fact that all he could do was sit back and wait. Brian would not have been surprised if something were to happen in the next few weeks. He looked at his calendar and sighed.

It was Friday, and Fridays were the best days to be friends with Tej. Everyone from both teams along with a few extra people were at the garage. There was music playing, water splashing, and jetskis skidding. Brian expected nothing less from the garage.

While everyone was in the back having fun, Brian kept himself in the garage with the cars. He looked over all the cars, repairing the littlest of details. There were days that he would fix something, and take it apart just to fix it again. This was one of those days. He wanted to avoid the crowd as much as possible.

He popped open the hood of one of his cars and looked at the engine searching for something to fix. "Brian?" he heard someone call his name. He peaked around the hood and saw Shane standing there. "Why aren't you outside enjoying yourself with everybody else?" he asked.

"Not my scene," Brian replied.

"Since when?" Shane asked.

Brian could not give him and honest answer. Brian wished that he could tell Shane what was going on in his head, but he didn't know enough to tell. He owed Shane that much. "I don't know."

"What's going on, Brian?" Shane asked, concerned about is friend. "Everyone sees you acting differently, but everyone is too chicken shit to ask what's up. And they think that you won't give them an answer that they'd want to hear."

"Nothing's going on, yet," Brian replied.

Shane caught the yet at the end of Brian's reply. "Is something going to go down soon?"

"I don't know. I just don't like getting too comfortable."

"I see. Have you always been like this?"

"Not always," Brian replied. He looked up when he heard the sound of his cell phone ringing. He patted his pockets thinking that he had it on him, but it wasn't. He saw it on the table that Shane was standing next to. "Shane, can you toss me that?" he asked.

"Sure," Shane said. He picked up the phone and tossed it to Brian.

He was surprised when there was no caller ID on his screen. "Hello?" he asked apprehensively.

"O'Conner," replied a husky voice on the other line.

And there it was. The reason that he could never be too cautious when it came to his comfort. "Bilkins." His grip on his phone tightened so much that he felt he could have snapped it in two. "What do you want?"

"I need to talk to you."

"About?" Brian wondered. He thought that he cleared up everything with the cops and the Feds.

"Not over the phone," Bilkins said.

"I'm not coming down there."

"Then let me come to you. I need you on a case."

They were trying to suck him in again, and he didn't want a part of any of it. "Get someone else. I'm not a cop anymore, Bilkins," he replied.

"I'm coming down to the garage," Bilkins said, basically ignoring every word that had come out of Brian's mouth. The agent hung up without a proper goodbye.

Brian closed his phone and brought it to his lips. Faster than anyone could blink, he pivoted on his heel and threw it at the nearest wall. "Whoa, Bullet. You all right?" Suki asked walking into the garage to get some more beers.

"Yeah," Brian replied, running both hands through his hair. "Just fine, Suki."

Suki walked to where whatever Brian threw landed and picked it up. "Can't say the same about your phone though, right?" Suki joked.

She walked over to Brian and placed the phone in his hand. It was still in one piece. "Thanks, Suki."

"You okay, Brian?" Shane asked, having watched the entire scene play out in front of him.

"I don't think so."

The three in the garage fell into silence contrasting the party outside. "Shane," Suki started, "help me reload the cooler with Coronas." She knew that something was going on with Brian and that he needed to be alone.

Shane agreed, taking a case of Coronas in each hand. Suki took one more and they walked out of the garage together.

Brian closed the hood of the car he was working on and walked toward the entrance of the garage. He waited because that was the only thing he could do.

Just when he thought that Bilkins wasn't going to show, a black car pulled up in front of the garage. Bilkins got out of his car with a folder in his hand. "O'Conner."

"Put the folder back in the car, Bilkins," Brian said.

"This is your next case."

"It must be really important if you came all the way down here to try and convince me. And you're doing it out in the open."

"I can take you back to headquarters if you need the environment to help you make the decision."

"My decision's already made."

"Just read the folder."

Bilkins held the folder out to Brian again. Brian took the folder out of his hand, opened the driver's door to the car, and tossed the folder in the seat. He slammed the door shut before he glared down his former superior. "Just get another person to do it. Someone who actually wants to."

"I don't want anyone else on this case."

"I thought that after the Verone case I'd be off the hook. My record's clean. I don't need anything fro you guys anymore," Brian said with finality as he walked back toward the garage.

"Right," Bilkins said incredulously. "You're record is clean. So, why don't we keep the money missing from Verone's bags between us."

Brian froze in his place, but he couldn't turn to face his former superior. "So, what is this? Blackmail?"

"No," the agent replied. "Let's go for a ride, O'Conner."

Still facing the garage, Brian listened as footsteps headed in the direction of the car. The car door opened, and not soon after the car started. Brian was torn. And he was trapped. He walked over to the car like he was walking to his death. He got into the car and Bilkins drove off without a word.

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

Suki and Shane walked over to the coolers and began unloading the beers from the cases. Leon walked over and relieved Suki of the duty and helped Shane. She walked through the two teams who were carrying on some conversations about the upcoming race. She went to sit on Tej's lap and he put his arms protectively around her. "You all right, Suki?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"So what's on your mind?"

"It's nothing."

"Shane!" Tej yelled. Shane stood up from the cooler and made it to Tej's side in record time. "You wouldn't lie to me, right?"

"No, boss."

"Don't call me that," Tej requested. "What happened in the garage?"

"Nothing," Shane replied. "I mean, nothing happened to Suki or to me."

"Then why do you both seem worried?" Jesse asked.

All that Shane could do was point to Brian standing at the entrance of the garage. "What is he doing?" Jimmy asked.

"We don't know," Suki replied. "I walked in when he threw his phone."

"Now all we have to think about is who would get Brian mad enough to throw a phone," Jesse said.

"Well," Letty said, "Rome is right here so who else could there be."

"He looks like he's meeting someone," Dom said.

As if on cue, a car pulled up in front of the garage forcing everyone watching the scene to fall quiet. All except Rome who didn't hear the discussion going on before. "What is everyone staring at?" he asked, then took a bite out of the sandwich in his hand.

"Sit down and shut up," Letty said, pulling Rome down next to her.

Rome looked in the direction that everyone else seemed to be staring at with such attention. "Is that Brian? Who the hell is that in the car?" He waited hoping that he would get his answer. When the person stepped out, Rome stood up. "Is that Bilkins?"

"Bilkins?" Dom asked.

They watched as Bilkins walked out with a folder in his hand. "Brian used to work for him."

"I wonder what's in the folder," Jesse asked. Then there were words exchanged and Bilkins tried to hand over the folder again. "He's gonna open it."

They watched as Brian threw the folder into the officer's car, say a few more things, then walk away. And then they saw him freeze. "What the hell is going on?" Mia asked.

If only they could hear the words being exchanged between the two. Their wonder and confusion grew as they saw Brian walk back toward the car and actually get in. Then they drove away. "He has a shitload of explaining to do when he gets back," Tej said.

And all the possible scenarios of what words could have been exchanged between the cop and the former cop played through each and every one of their minds.

**Here's the next update. Thanks everyone for reading. You guys are honestly amazing for sticking with me the passed two years. I'd try and thank each and every one of you guys individually, and I hope that by the time this story is over I will. By the way, I'm thinking about changing the title of this story, so if you guys get an update from me and it isn't this title, just know that it's the same story. Hope this chapter turned out all right. Thanks for reading. And please review. Lil-Rock**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own the characters that haven't been mentioned in the franchise and the idea behind this story.**

Brian sat in Bilkins' car, brooding. He looked out the window, knowing that if he looked at the agent, nothing good would come from it. "Open the folder, Brian."

Brian turned to his former superior and glared at him. "No," was all that he could say. He couldn't exactly jump out of a moving car. Well, he could, but it would really hurt. And even if he did jump out of the car, Bilkins would back up and force him back into it.

"O'Conner."

Brian felt as if he were getting scolded like a little kid. "No," he replied again. "Because as soon as I open it, you've officially reeled me in."

"Just open the damn folder."

"Just brief me on the case," Brian tried to negotiate. "But that doesn't mean I'm accepting."

"Then I can't tell you anything about it," Bilkins said.

Brian sighed. He knew that was the answer he was going to receive. "Why me? Thousands of officers in the nation, and you keep coming back to me."

"Because of the cross-country race involved in the case." Bilkins pulled into the nearest parking lot and parked the car. "And I think that the people you've been associating yourself with recently will be a good help."

"You know?" Brian asked. "You've been keeping tabs on me?"

"Of course, I know." Bilkins picked up the folder and held it in front of Brian. "So, open the folder." He took the folder with a shaky hand and opened it. The folder opened and Brian looked the first line before his eyes darkened. Bilkins saw it. "O'Conner," he said cautiously.

"I can't take the case," Brian said closing the folder back up. The case involved a name that haunted him from his teenage years.

Bilkins pulled into the nearest parking lot and parked the car. "Why not?" Brian put the folder in Bilkins' lap. "You looked at it for less than a minute."

"I can't," he whispered. "No, I can't."

"Why not?" Bilkins replied.

"It's… it's too personal. I can't take the case."

"You don't have a choice."

"Obviously I do, or you wouldn't have brought me here. And I can't… no, I won't take the case."

"Will you give me a reason why?" Bilkins pried.

"No," Brian whispered.

"I need a reason."

"You wouldn't understand if I told you. I told you it's personal. You can't put me on a case if it is."

"When have you ever cared about any of that? And I can if you're the best person for the job. I know that you would put your personal feelings aside for a case."

With that statement, Brian knew that he was reeled back in. He cursed Bilkins for knowing him so damn well. There was no way out from that point on. "You really can't get anyone else?" Brian whispered.

"They don't want anyone else."

"They as in who?"

"The Feds."

Brian groaned. He couldn't say no to the Feds. Especially since the Feds could easily pull up his old records and see his entire life in a folder. "Just give some time to think about it. If you really need me, give me time. And I don't want you to tell Rome."

"O'Conner," Bilkins said. "Whatever it is that's holding you back from taking this case, push it to the side and do your job."

That got Brian fired up. "The job that I quit and you keep pulling me back into!" he yelled. "Seriously, what do I have to do to get you guys to leave me alone? It's funny," he laughed like a madman.

"What is?"

"I would've thought that after all the stunts I've been pulling that they would've kicked me off the force by now. But it's doing the opposite. I keep getting dragged back in."

"Because you're a good cop."

"Not when I'm actually on a case. I can't you guys to stop yelling at me and getting on my ass."

"It's because you do some stupid things when you're on a case."

"And you're telling me that makes me a good cop?"

"Everyone has their own way of getting a case done. I'm not going to rag on the way you do your job because in the end, the case gets closed," Bilkins replied.

Brian didn't answer for a few seconds. "Take me back to the garage," he whispered.

"Why?"

"You're not going to convince me in a car ride. So, take me back. Give me some time to think about it."

"Fine," Bilkins replied. "I'll be by in a few days for your answer."

"Try at least a week," Brian negotiated.

"A few days," Bilkins stated. The negotiation was over. "We need you on this case as soon as possible."

"Assuming I take the case."

"Assuming you take the case," Bilkins repeated. He couldn't be presumptuous and think that Brian was going to take the case. He knew that he wasn't going to make any more progress in convincing Brian. He started his car. "I'll take you back now."

The two rode back in silence. Not a word was exchanged between them.

Bilkins pulled up right outside of the garage and shut off his engine. Brian got out of the car as quickly as he could. He stopped at the driver's window. "I'll call you in a few days," Brian replied, standing near the window of the car.

"Take the folder," Bilkins said, holding the folder out to him.

Brian took it with a shaky hand, then left the cop's presence. When he got into the garage, he looked for his car keys. The party crowd had left since he got into Bilkins' car. He walked onto his room and found them at his bedside. He tossed the folder on his bed. When he turned around, his doorway was blocked by everyone. "Where've you been?" Tej asked.

Brian shoved his keys into his pocket. "Out," he said and squeezed his way through the crowd.

"Where the hell are you going?" Rome asked.

"For a drive," Brian replied. He got into his Skyline and started it. "Don't follow me," he threatened and drove off.

"He sounds frustrated," Shane said.

"He hasn't driven off like that in months," Jimmy said.

Rome took out his cell phone and searched through his phonebook. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this," he said.

"Bilkins," the person on the other side of the line answered.

"What the hell did you say to Broc?" Rome asked.

"Who?" Bilkins asked. He didn't know about that nickname that Brian had.

"Brian," Rome repeated. "What did you say to him?"

"Why? What did he tell you?"

"Nothing, he just drove off."

"Damnit," Bilkins hissed.

"You want to tell me what's going on now. What do you guys want from Brian?" Rome yelled.

"I can't tell you," Bilkins replied.

"Why the hell not?" Rome replied angrily.

"He told me not to," Bilkins yelled back.

"Screw that! Like you take orders from him."

"I'll do what he wants so I can get him on this case."

"What case?" Rome asked.

"None of your business," Bilkins replied "And make sure that O'Conner stays out of trouble." Bilkins hung up on Rome without saying a goodbye.

Rome tucked his phone back into his pants and turned to meet the glares of members of two teams. "So," Suki said.

"We're never going to find out," Rome replied. "Bilkins won't say anything, and I know that Brian won't unless someone is holding a gun to his head."

"That can be arranged," Letty whispered.

But everyone heard and replied, "No!"

"Why don't we leave him alone?" Shane suggested. "He'll tell us when he needs our help. Just let him deal with himself."

Everyone stood in silence. After a few minutes they all dispersed. They realized that Shane was right. Brian wouldn't tell them what was going on in his life. Just another secret to be added to Brian's endless list.

LRLRLRLRLRLRLRLR

When Brian drove back to the garage, it was already passed midnight. None of the lights were on and there were no cars in the garage. Party during the day, race during the night. Tej's lifestyle. Brian could guarantee that everyone was at the races right now.

He parked his car in the usual spot and walked to his room in the dark. When he got to his room, he turned on his light and saw the folder still on his bed. Something inside him hoped that it would have somehow disappeared while he was out.

He was gone for hours, just driving around. He was surprised that no cops tried to pull him over for the speed limit laws that he kept breaking. He knew that Bilkins had something to do with it.

Bilkins. The reason for the folder that was still on his bed.

He took the folder, opened it, and sat down on his bed. He got through his mark's family history before he threw the entire folder against the wall.

Eric Moran.

"That son of a bitch," Brian whispered.

He couldn't take the case. He just couldn't. He ran his hands over his face trying to think of an excuse to give Bilkins. To give the Feds.

He laid back when he came up with nothing. "I'll just sleep on it," he whispered to himself.

He tucked a pillow under his head and closed his eyes. He fell asleep, not even caring that his light was still on.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

_Dream Sequence_

_Brian stood in the middle of a white room. He looked around, but the room seemed endless. A fog slowly rolled in making everything harder to see. He stood in the middle and waited for somewhere to go. He turned his head when he heard a soft voice in the distance. He slowly walked toward it._

_He found himself in the area where the voice was coming from. He knew because it had gotten louder, but he couldn't see the person. The voice sounded so familiar. He turned around to see a little girl, no older than eight. He was finally able to make out what she was saying. "Brian, where are you?"_

_Brian froze in shock. The little girl was looking for him. He stepped toward her and got a closer look. He realized why the voice had sounded so familiar. "Kit?"_

_The little girl spun around and looked at Brian with suspicious green eyes. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"_

"_Kit, it's me, Brian," he said taking a few more steps toward her._

_She took a few steps back. "No, you're not. You are too old."_

_Brian shook his head. He had forgotten that it had been ten years since she had seen him. "Kit, it's me."_

_Kit slowly walked toward him. He knelt down so she could have a better view of him. She put her small hands on his cheeks and stared deep into his eyes. "You have his eyes."_

"_Katrina, I swear it's me."_

_Kit's hands dropped to her sides and head drooped to her chest. "Are you mad at me?"_

_The question perplexed Brian. "Why?"_

"_Because you never call me Katrina, unless you are mad or you are trying to make me stop being mad at you. And I'm not mad at you."_

"_No, I'm not mad. I'm just proving to you that I know you." Brian sat down on the ground. "Come here," he said to her. _

_She walked toward him and sat on his lap. She leaned into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her small body. "So, you're not mad," she whispered._

"_What for?" _

_He gently lifted her away from him to look at her eyes. She was on the verge of tears. "For me getting in the car."_

_Tears rolled down her face. Brian brought a hand to her face and wiped the tears away. "No, I'm not mat at you, Kit."_

"_You sounded mad," she whispered. "After the accident. I heard you yelling my name."_

"_I didn't think that you heard that. I thought that you were unconscious. I was mad because I didn't know you were in the car."_

"_I'm sorry I made you mad."_

"_Don't be."_

_Kit stood up and looked around. "I have to go, Brian."_

_She walked into the fog. "Katrina!" She visibly flinched. "Kit." She turned around. She didn't want to leave Brian, but she needed to. "Happy birthday," he said. _

_She ran toward him and gave him one last hug. "Bye." With that one syllable, she disappeared, leaving a confused and remorseful Brian._

_End Dream Sequence_

Brian sat up from his bed. His body covered in sweat, chest heaving. He looked at his calendar. Even in the dark, he could see one specific date circled. _Happy Birthday, Katrina._ He stood up and found a marker and crossed out Katrina. He wrote Kit in its place.

"Kit," he whispered, lying back down. He stared up at his ceiling, his sleep fleeing him.

**Okay, sorry for the long wait. I've had parts of this chapter written for more than a year, I just didn't know where it would fit into the story. I hope that it's found it's right place. Well, here is the next chapter. Thanks for sticking out the wait. Thanks for reading. Please review. Lil-Rock**


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